AN EAGLE and a Fox formed an intimate friendship and decided to live
near each other. The Eagle built her nest in the branches of a tall
tree, while the Fox crept into the underwood and there produced her
young. Not long after they had agreed upon this plan, the Eagle, being
in want of provision for her young ones, swooped down while the Fox was
out, seized upon one of the little cubs, and feasted herself and her
brood. The Fox on her return, discovered what had happened, but was
less grieved for the death of her young than for her inability to
avenge them. A just retribution, however, quickly fell upon the Eagle.
While hovering near an altar, on which some villagers were sacrificing
a goat, she suddenly seized a piece of the flesh, and carried it, along
with a burning cinder, to her nest. A strong breeze soon fanned the
spark into a flame, and the eaglets, as yet unfledged and helpless,
were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead at the bottom of the
tree. There, in the sight of the Eagle, the Fox gobbled them up.