A Fox, caught in a trap, escaped with the loss of his "brush."
Henceforth feeling his life a burden from the shame and ridicule to
which he was exposed, he schemed to bring all the other Foxes into a
like condition with himself, that in the common loss he might the
better conceal his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes, and
publicly advised them to cut off their tails saying "that they would not
only look much better without them, but that they would get rid of the
weight of the brush, which was a great inconvenience." One of them
interrupting him said, "_If you had not yourself lost your tail, my
friend, you would not thus counsel us._"
[Illustration]