se began to compete with the brown grouse,
something unprecedented happened. While all the animals thought of
nothing but the grouse-game, a fox stole slowly over to the wild geese's
knoll. He glided very cautiously, and came way up on the knoll before
anyone noticed him. Suddenly a goose caught sight of him; and as she
could not believe that a fox had sneaked in among the geese for any good
purpose, she began to cry: "Have a care, wild geese! Have a care!" The
fox struck her across the throat--mostly, perhaps, because he wanted to
make her keep quiet--but the wild geese had already heard the cry and
they all raised themselves in the air. And when they had flown up, the
animals saw Smirre Fox standing on the wild geese's knoll, with a dead
goose in his mouth.

But because he had in this way broken the play-day's peace, such a
punishment was meted out to Smirre Fox that, for the rest of his days,
he must regret he had not been able to control his thirst for revenge,
but had attempted to approach Akka and her flock in this manner.

He was immediately surrounded by a crowd of foxes, and doomed in
accordance with an old custom, which demands that whosoever disturbs the
peace on the great play-day, must go into exile. Not a fox wished to
lighten the sentence, since they all knew that the instant they
attempted anything of the sort, they would be driven from the
playground, and would nevermore be permitted to enter it. Banishment was
pronounced upon Smirre without opposition. He was forbidden to remain in
Skane. He was banished from wife and kindred; from hunting grounds,
home, resting places and retreats, which he had hitherto owned; and he
must tempt fortune in foreign lands. So that all foxes in Skane should
know that Smirre was outlawed in the district, the oldest of the foxes
bit off his right earlap. As soon as this was done, all the young foxes
began to yowl from blood-thirst, and threw themselves on Smirre. For him
there was no alternative except to take flight; and with all the young
foxes in hot pursuit, he rushed away from Kullaberg.

All this happened while black grouse and brown grouse were going on with
their games. But these birds lose themselves so completely in their
song, that they neither hear nor see. Nor had they permitted themselves
to be disturbed.

The forest birds' contest was barely over, before the stags from
Haeckeberga came forward to show their wrestling game. There were several
pairs of stag