The Wolf and the Fox

The Wolf and the Fox

Once upon a time, a Wolf and a Fox lived in a great forest. The Wolf was strong, but impatient and very fond of food. The Fox was quick, watchful, and always looked to see where a path led before setting a paw on it.

One day, the Wolf said to the Fox:

“Find me something tasty. I’m terribly hungry.”

“All right,” replied the Fox. “But remember: once you have enough, you need to know when to stop.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” the Wolf grumbled. “Just lead the way.”

They came to a farmyard where sheep were grazing near a pen. The Fox pointed to a young lamb.

“There is your meal. Take one and go straight back to the forest. If you try to grab more, there will be an uproar.”

The Wolf crept along the fence. He managed to catch one lamb and could easily have left. But when he saw the rest of the flock, he thought, “One isn’t enough. I’ll take another. Maybe a third.”

He crept toward the pen again. The sheep began to stir, the dogs barked, and the farmer came out of the house. The Wolf barely escaped and ran through the forest without looking back.

The Fox was waiting for him beneath an old oak.

“Well?” she asked.

“I barely got away,” the Wolf replied angrily.

“And one lamb wasn’t enough for you?”

The Wolf said nothing. He only snorted and walked on.

Several days passed. The Wolf grew hungry again and went back to the Fox.

“Find me something to eat.”

“Very well,” said the Fox. “But this time, stop when you have enough.”

They reached another village. In one house, a woman had just made a large bowl of pancakes. The kitchen window was slightly open.

The Fox crept up quietly, took several pancakes, and brought them to the Wolf.

“Here. Eat, and then we’ll go.”

The Wolf swallowed the pancakes one after another.

“They’re delicious,” he said. “Are there more?”

“There are. That is exactly why we are leaving now,” replied the Fox.

But the Wolf was already looking at the house.

“You brought only a few. There’s a whole bowl in there!”

“Not your bowl,” the Fox reminded him.

The Wolf ignored her. He crept up to the kitchen, pushed his head through the window, and reached for the pancakes. The bowl wobbled, slid off the table, and crashed noisily to the floor.

The people in the house heard at once.

“Who’s there?” the woman shouted.

The Wolf sprang away from the window and raced for the forest. Dogs chased him. Only when he reached the stream did he manage to hide in the thick bushes.

Before long, the Fox came to him.

“Why is it that every time you have enough, you still need more?”

“Because maybe there will be nothing tomorrow,” the Wolf answered gloomily.

“If greed gets you into trouble today, tomorrow won’t be very pleasant either,” said the Fox.

The Wolf pretended not to hear.

The third time they went searching for food, it was winter. The frost was hard, snow squeaked beneath their paws, and there was very little to eat in the forest.

The Fox noticed a cellar beneath a farmhouse. There was a small hole in its wall.

“They keep supplies in there,” she said. “We can crawl inside, but only for a little while. I’ll keep checking whether I can still fit back through the hole.”

The Wolf laughed.

“Why check? The hole isn’t going anywhere.”

They squeezed into the cellar. There were baskets of apples, little sacks of flour, jars, and shelves full of food.

The Fox ate a little and went to the opening. She pushed her head outside, came back, ate a few more bites, then checked the exit again.

The Wolf watched her and laughed.

“You spend more time running to that hole than eating.”

“And you spend more time eating than thinking,” replied the Fox.

The Wolf kept feasting. When his stomach was already full, he decided to have just a little more. Then a little more. And then one last bite, because it was right beside him.

Suddenly, a door banged above them.

The farmer had heard noises in the cellar and was coming down the stairs.

“Time to go!” whispered the Fox.

She slipped through the opening at once.

The Wolf pushed after her and got stuck.

“Fox! I can’t fit!”

“That’s because you never checked the exit,” she called from outside. “Pull in your belly and try again!”

The Wolf puffed and twisted. At last, just as the farmer was very close, he tore himself free. A patch of fur remained on the edge of the hole, but the Wolf himself was unharmed. He ran for the forest faster than he had ever run before.

When they finally stopped among the fir trees, the Wolf was silent for a long time.

“Now you’re going to say I was greedy again?” he asked at last.

“No,” replied the Fox. “You already know that.”

The Wolf sat down in the snow and sighed.

“I do. At first, one lamb was enough. Then a few pancakes. In the cellar, I could have left in time too. But every time, instead of thinking about what I already had, I thought about what else I could take.”

“Strength is not much use if you cannot tell yourself ‘enough,’” said the Fox.

The Wolf nodded.

He did not become a completely different creature in a single day. When he saw a large portion, he still licked his lips. When he smelled something delicious, he still hurried toward it first. But before taking more, he stopped more and more often and remembered the barking dogs, the broken bowl, and the narrow hole in the cellar.

Then he asked himself:

“Do I really need this, or do I simply not want to stop?”

The Fox heard him and only smiled.

Because sometimes the hardest victory is not over someone else, but over your own desire to take more than you need.

Because sometimes the hardest victory is not over someone else, but over your own desire to take more than you need.