This was the way of it.
Uncle Bear had a pot of honey and a big cheese, but the Great Red Fox
had nothing but his wits.
The fox was for going into partnership, for he says, says he, “a head
full of wits is worth more than a pot of honey and a big cheese,” which
was as true as gospel, only that wits cannot be shared in partnership
among folks, like red herring and blue beans, or a pot of honey and a
big cheese.
All the same, Uncle Bear was well enough satisfied, and so they went
into partnership together, just as the Great Red Fox had said. As for
the pot of honey and the big cheese, why, they were put away for a rainy
day, and the wits were all that were to be used just now.
“Very well,” says the fox, “we’ll rattle them up a bit;” and so he did,
and this was how.
He was hungry for the honey, was the Great Red Fox. “See, now,” said he,
“I am sick to-day, and I will just go and see the Master Doctor over
yonder.”
But it was not the doctor he went to; no, off he marched to the
storehouse, and there he ate part of the honey. After that he laid out
in the sun and toasted his skin, for that is pleasant after a great
dinner.
By and by he went home again.
“Well,” says Uncle Bear, “and how do you feel now?”
“Oh, well enough,” says the Great Red Fox.
“And was the medicine bitter?” says Uncle Bear.
“Oh, no, it was good enough,” says the Great Red Fox.
“And how much did the doctor give you?” says Uncle Bear.
“Oh, about one part of a pot full,” says the Red Fox.
Dear, dear! thinks Uncle Bear, that is a great deal of medicine to take,
for sure and certain.
Well, things went on as smoothly as though the wheels were greased,
until by and by the fox grew hungry for a taste of honey again; and this
time he had to go over yonder and see his aunt. Off he went to the
storehouse, and there he ate all the honey he wanted, and then, after he
had slept a bit in the sun, he went back home again.
“Well,” says Uncle Bear, “and did you see your aunt?”
“Oh, yes,” says the Great Red Fox, “I saw her.”
“And did she give you anything?” says Uncle Bear.
“Oh, yes, she gave me a trifle,” says the Great Red Fox.
“And what was it she gave you?” says Uncle Bear.
“Why, she gave me another part of a pot full, that was all,” says the
Great Red Fox.
“Dear, dear! but that is a queer thing to give,” says Uncle Bear.
By and by the Great Red Fox was thinking of honey again, and now it was
a christening he had to go to. Off he went to the pot of honey, and this
time he finished it all and licked the pot into the bargain.
And had everything gone smoothly at the christening? That was what Uncle
Bear wanted to know.
“Oh, smoothly enough,” says the Great Red Fox.
“And did they have a christening feast?” says Uncle Bear.
“Oh, yes, they had that,” says the Great Red Fox.
“And what did they have?” says Uncle Bear.
“Oh, everything that was in the pot,” says the Great Red Fox.
“Dear, dear,” says Uncle Bear, “but they must have been a hungry set at
that christening.”
Well, one day Uncle Bear says, “We’ll have a feast and eat up the pot of
honey and the big cheese, and we’ll ask Father Goat over to help us.”
That suited the Great Red Fox well enough, so off he went to the
storehouse to fetch the pot of honey and the cheese; as for Uncle Bear
he went to ask Father Goat to come and help them eat up the good things.
[Illustration: The Great Red Fox goeth to the storehouse and helps
himself to the good things. ¶]
“See, now,” says the Great Red Fox to himself, “the pot of honey and the
big cheese belong together, and it is a pity to part them.” So down he
sat without more ado, and when he got up again the cheese was all inside
of him.
When he came home again there was Father Goat toasting his toes at the
fire and waiting for supper; and there was Uncle Bear on the back
door-step sharpening the bread-knife.
“Hi!” says the Great Red Fox, “and what are you doing here, Father
Goat?”
“I am just waiting for supper, and that is all,” says Father Goat.
“And where is Uncle Bear?” says the Great Red Fox.
“He is sharpening the bread-knife,” says Father Goat.
“Yes,” says the Great Red Fox, “and when he is through with that he is
going to cut your tail off.”
Dear, dear! but Father Goat was in a great fright; that house was no
place for him, and he could see that with one eye shut; off he marched,
as though the ground was hot under him. As for the Great Red Fox, he
went out to Uncle Bear; “That was a pretty body you asked to take supper
with us,” says he; “here he has marched off with the pot of honey and
the big cheese, and we may sit down and whistle over an empty table
between us.”
When Uncle Bear heard this he did not tarry, I can tell you; up he got
and off he went after Father Goat. “Stop! stop!” he bawled, “let me have
a little at least.”
But Father Goat thought that Uncle Bear was speaking of his tail, for he
knew nothing of the pot of honey and the big cheese; so he just knuckled
down to it, and away he scampered till the gravel flew behind him.
And this was what came of that partnership; nothing was left but the
wits that the Great Red Fox had brought into the business; for nobody
could blame Father Goat for carrying the wits off with him, and one
might guess that without the telling.
Now, as the pot of honey and big cheese were gone, something else must
be looked up, for one cannot live on thin air, and that is the truth.
“See, now,” says the Great Red Fox, “Farmer John over yonder has a
storehouse full of sausages and chitterlings and puddings, and all sort
of good things. As nothing else is left of the partnership we’ll just
churn our wits a bit, and see if we can make butter with them, as the
saying goes;” that was what the Great Red Fox said, and it suited Uncle
Bear as well as anything he ever heard; so off they marched arm in arm.
[Illustration: The Fox tells Father Goat a strange story.]
By and by they came to Farmer John’s house, and nobody was about, which
was just what the two rogues wanted; and, yes, there was the storehouse
as plain as the nose on your face, only the door was locked. Above was a
little window just big enough for the Great Red Fox to creep into,
though it was up ever so high. “Just give me a lift up through the
window yonder,” says he to Uncle Bear, “and I will drop the good things
out for you to catch.”
So Uncle Bear gave the Great Red Fox a leg up, and—pop!—and there he was
in the storehouse like a mouse in the cheese-box.
As soon as he was safe among the good things he bawled out to Uncle
Bear, “What shall it be first, sausages or puddings?”
“Hush! hush!” said Uncle Bear.
“Yes, yes,” bawled the Red Fox louder than ever, “only tell me which I
shall take first, sausages or puddings?”
“Sh-h-h-h!” said Uncle Bear, “if you are making such a noise as that you
will have them about our ears; take the first that comes and be quick
about it.”
“Yes, yes,” bawled the fox as loud as he was able; “but one is just as
handy as another, and you must tell me which I shall take first.”
But Uncle Bear got neither pudding nor sausage, for the Great Red Fox
had made such a hubbub that Farmer John and his men came running, and
three great dogs with them.
“Hi!” said they, “there is Uncle Bear after the sausages and puddings;”
and there was nothing for him to do but to lay foot to the ground as
fast as he could. All the same, they caught him over the hill, and gave
him such a drubbing that his bones ached for many a long day.
But the Great Red Fox only waited until all the others were well away on
their own business, and then he filled a bag with the best he could lay
his hands on, opened the door from the inside, and walked out as though
it were from his own barn; for there was nobody to say “No” to him. He
hid the good things away in a place of his own, and it was little of
them that Uncle Bear smelt. After he had gathered all this, Master Fox
came home, groaning as though he had had an awful drubbing; it would
have moved a heart of stone to hear him.
“Dear, oh dear! what a drubbing I have had,” said he.
“And so have I,” said Uncle Bear, grinning over his sore bones as though
cold weather were blowing snow in his teeth.
“See, now,” said the Great Red Fox, “this is what comes of going into
partnership, and sharing one’s wits with another. If you had made your
choice when I asked you, your butter would never have been spoiled in
the churning.”
[Illustration: Uncle Bear and the Great Red Fox visit the farmer’s
storehouse.]
That was all the comfort Uncle Bear had, and cold enough it was too. All
the same, he is not the first in the world who has lost his dinner, and
had both the drubbing and the blame into the bargain.
But things do not last forever, and so by and by the good things from
Farmer John’s storehouse gave out, and the Great Red Fox had nothing in
the larder.
“Listen,” says he to Uncle Bear, “I saw them shaking the apple-trees at
Farmer John’s to-day, and if you have a mind to try the wits that belong
to us, we’ll go and bring a bagful apiece from the storehouse over
yonder at the farm.”
Yes, that suited Uncle Bear well enough; so off they marched, each of
them with an empty bag to fetch back the apples. By and by they came to
the storehouse, and nobody was about. This time the door was not locked,
so in the both of them went and began filling their bags with apples.
The Great Red Fox tumbled them into his bag as fast as ever he could,
taking them just as they came, good or bad; but Uncle Bear took his time
about it and picked them all over, for since he had come there he was
bound to get the best that were to be had.
So the upshot of the matter was that the Great Red Fox had his bag full
before Uncle Bear had picked out half a score of good juicy apples.
“I’ll just peep out of the window yonder,” says the Great Red Fox, “and
see if Farmer John is coming.” But in his sleeve he said to himself,
“I’ll slip outside and turn the key of the door on Uncle Bear, for
somebody will have to carry the blame of this, and his shoulders are
broader and his skin tougher than mine; he will never be able to get out
of that little window.” So up he jumped with his bag of apples, to do as
he said.
But listen! A hasty man drinks hot broth. And so it was with the Great
Red Fox, for up in the window they had set a trap to catch rats. But he
knew nothing of that; out he jumped from the window—click! went the trap
and caught him by the tail, and there he hung.
“Is Farmer John coming?” bawled Uncle Bear, by and by.
“Hush! hush!” said the Great Red Fox, for he was trying to get his tail
out of the trap.
But the boot was on the other leg now. “Yes, yes,” bawled Uncle Bear,
louder than before, “but tell me, is Farmer John coming?”
“Sh-h-h-h!” says the Great Red Fox.
“No, no,” bawled Uncle Bear, as loud as he could, “what I want to know
is, is Farmer John coming?”
[Illustration: The Bear & the Fox go to farmer John’s again.]
Yes, he was, for he had heard the hubbub, and here he was with a lot of
his men and three great dogs.
“Oh, Farmer John,” bawled the Great Red Fox, “don’t touch me, I am not
the thief. Yonder is Uncle Bear in the pantry, he is the one.”
Yes, yes, Farmer John knew how much of that cake to eat; here was the
rogue of a fox caught in the trap, and the beating was ready for him.
That was the long and the short of it.
When the Great Red Fox heard this, he pulled with all his might and
main. Snap! went his tail and broke off close to his body, and away he
scampered with Farmer John, the men and the dogs close to his heels. But
Uncle Bear filled his bag full of apples, and when all hands had gone
racing away after the Great Red Fox, he walked quietly out of the door
and off home.
And that is how the Great Red Fox lost his tail in the trap.
What is the meaning of all this? Why, here it is: When a rogue and
another cracks a nut together, it is not often the rogue who breaks his
teeth by trying to eat the hulls. And this too: But when one sets a trap
for another, it is a toss of a copper whether or no it flies up and
pinches his own fingers.
If there is anything more left in the dish you may scrape it for
yourself.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]