Once a fox was wandering in a forest. He saw a beautiful peacock sitting on the branch of a tree at a considerable height. ‘How can I have this peacock for my meal,’ thought the fox to himself. He knew he could not climb up the tree to kill the peacock.
Applying his stratagem, the fox said to the peacock, “How is it that you are sitting on the tree? Don’t you know that it has been decided in a meeting of animals today that from now on the animals and the birds will not kill one another for food. ”
“That means the king lion, the tigers and the leopards shall start eating grass from today,” said the peacock, outwitting the fox.
But the fox wasn’t ready to give up so easily. “This point needs clarification,” said the fox cunningly, “Come down; we’ll go together to our king and request him to clarify this point.”
“We needn’t go there,” said the peacock, “I can see some of your friends coming towards this tree.”
“Who are they?” the fox asked in surprise.
“Hounds,” the peacock replied.
“Hounds!” the fox repeated the words in fear and sprang up on his feet to run away.
“Why do you run away? You have just told that all the animals and the birds have become friends ,” the peacock said laughing.
“But perhaps the hounds might not have heard of this meeting,” the fox replied and ran away into the deep forest.
Moral—Presence of mind outwits cunningness.
