t get a good meal before I go back to my den,' he
said to himself; 'it is nearly a week since I have tasted anything but
scraps, though perhaps no one would think it to look at my figure!
Of course there are plenty of rabbits and hares in the mountains; but
indeed one needs to be a greyhound to catch them, and I am not so young
as I was! If I could only dine off that fox I saw a fortnight ago,
curled up into a delicious hairy ball, I should ask nothing better; I
would have eaten her then, but unluckily her husband was lying beside
her, and one knows that foxes, great and small, run like the wind.
Really it seems as if there was not a living creature left for me to
prey upon but a wolf, and, as the proverb says: "One wolf does not bite
another." However, let us see what this village can produce. I am as
hungry as a schoolmaster.'

Now, while these thoughts were running through the mind of the wolf, the
very fox he had been thinking of was galloping along the other road.

'The whole of this day I have listened to those village hens clucking
till I could bear it no longer,' murmured she as she bounded along,
hardly seeming to touch the ground. 'When you are fond of fowls and eggs
it is the sweetest of all music. As sure as there is a sun in heaven I
will have some of them this night, for I have grown so thin that my very
bones rattle, and my poor babies are crying for food.' And as she spoke
she reached a little plot of grass, where the two roads joined, and
flung herself under a tree to take a little rest, and to settle her
plans. At this moment the wolf came up.

At the sight of the fox lying within his grasp his mouth began to water,
but his joy was somewhat checked when he noticed how thin she was. The
fox's quick ears heard the sound of his paws, though they were soft as
velvet, and turning her head she said politely:

'Is that you, neighbour? What a strange place to meet in! I hope you are
quite well?'

'Quite well as regards my health,' answered the wolf, whose eye
glistened greedily, 'at least, as well as one can be when one is very
hungry. But what is the matter with you? A fortnight ago you were as
plump as heart could wish!'

'I have been ill--very ill,' replied the fox, 'and what you say is quite
true. A worm is fat in comparison with me.'

'He is. Still, you are good enough for me; for "to the hungry no bread
is hard."'

'Oh, you are always joking! I'm sure you are not half as hungry as I!'

'That w