The Fox and the Drum

There lived a fox in a forest. One day, he was roaming in the forest in search of food. Suddenly, he heard loud sounds..

BANG… BANG… BANG…

The fox was frightened. “What a deafening sound this is!” he thought. “It echos through the forest! It seems to be the sound of some srange new animal. Let me run away from here.”

But then he chaned his mind. He thought. “If I run away, I might starve to death. Let me hide myself and see how big the animal is. If it lives by killing and eating other animals, it might share its prey with me.”

The fox quietly walked in the direction form where the sound was coming. And what did he see? There was a big drum under a tree. The hanging branches of the tree were swaying in the breeze. As they swayed, they would strike against the drum; and this produced the sound of beats-

BANG…BANG…BANG…

The drum might have been used by soldiers during a battle and since then, it might have been lying in that place. The fox hid himself behind a tree and watched the drum. He thought, “It is dangerous to be in this place. If this huge animal sees me, it will surely kill me and eat me up. Now I must leave this forest and go away.”

But then the fox again thought, “This forest is my house. Why should I leave my home and go away? My mother used to say, ‘Never make a hasty decision when you are frigtenes.’ Let me go near the animal and observe it closely.”

Although frightened, the fox slowly went near the drum. He said to himself, “As soon as this animal raises its paws topounce on me, I will run away from here.” But the animal did no such thing! So the fox went a little closer. But stll the animal did not do anything. Now the fox gathered some courage. “Let me touch it,” he thought and raised his paws and gently tapped on the drum.

BANG.. The sound of the drum beat echoed through the forest.

The fox moved back a few steps. He agin gathered courage and went closer to the drum. Now he was no longer frightened os the drum. He smelled it and thought, “How big this animal is! And, how thick its skin is! It must be fleshy.” The fox’s mouth started watering.

The fox climbed up on the drum tried to bite it. But the hide was too thick for the fox to bite into. He was surprised. “Such a big animal and yet i is so helpless! It cannot even my face my attack. Poor animal!” said the fox to himself. The fox tried very hard to bite off a piece of teh thick hide. But he broke his tooth instead! Blood beagn to drip from his mouth. The fox was very angry. Niw with all his might, he bi ino hide. And, at last, he succeeded! Then it became very easy for him to tear it up. The fox was amazed. “I have bitten into this animal’s skin and torn it open. And yet there is no blood,” he wondered.

The fox ebtered the drum. It was hollow!

The fox sighed. He was disappointed. He did not get any food to eat and, to add to his miseries, he had lost a tooth!

As the breeze blew, the branches of the tree struck against the drum. But this time, there were no sounds of the beats.

The fox said to himself, “Well, I dont mind loosing a tooth. But I am happy that I have lost my fright. I have killed this big animal.” The fox was very proud of himself.

The proud fox held his head high and, once again, began to wander in search of food.