Week 6: Reading Diary: How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit

This week's reading was from Unit: Tibetan Folktales.

I liked that at the beginning of every story there was a Tibetan proverb. In other words the moral or lesson of the story. From the first reading assignment, my favorite story was, How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit.

In this story, there is a mother tiger who has a cub. The mother tiger was out one day and found a young fox, she decided to bring the fox as a playmate for her cub. The two became friends and play together every day. Another day the other tiger was out and found a young calf, she did the same and brought him home as another playmate.

Calf: By,Pezibear on pixabay

This is where the story gets interesting. The fox grows jealous of the calf and things everyone loves him more. Shortly after the mother grows ill. Before she passes she tells her son and the calf, " Although you are not of the same father and mother, yet you are brothers. I don't want you to ever quarrel, but to live happily here together, and if anyone should tell you lies don't pay any attention to them, but always be friends."

Mother and Cub: By, Sponchia on pixabay

The fox came up with a plan to turn the tiger cub and calf against each other. Every morning the calf would be jumping around. While the tiger rested. This is when the fox came up to the tiger and told him that the calf was gaining his strength by jumping around to kill the tiger one day. From that day on the tiger and calf became enemies. The tiger kept a close watch on the calf. 

Then my favorite part of the story, one day the calf came up to the tiger and simply asked why he wanted to kill him. The tiger told him that the fox said you were trying to kill me. The two they found out that neither wanted to kill each other and the fox had tricked them. The two had regained their true friendship and came up with a plan to rebutle against the fox. 

The calf and the cub decided they would fake fight and have to fox watch. When they began to fight the fox got close enough that the tiger jumped onto him and killed him. Just like their mother had told the two, never let a lie come between you brothers. 

The Tibetan proverb for this story was, "Between the official and his people is confidence if the headman is skillful." 

What I took from this story is the bond between two true friends can never be broken. No matter what comes between them they will always find a way back to each other. 

Story Source: Part of the Tibetan Folktales unit, Tibetan Folk Taled by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).