Fox Fables and Tales
Aesop
One of Aesop's fables, entitled The Fox and the Stork, tells of a fox who invited a stork to eat but only gave her a shallow dish to eat of. Having a long bill, the stork couldn't eat. In turn, she invited the fox over and served him dinner in a dish with a long neck bottle that he couldn't eat out of.
A fable of Aesop's, entitled the Fox and Woodcutter, tells of a fox who was sheltered from hunters by a woodcutter. When the hunter inquired if the woodcutter had seen a fox, he replied "No," but all the while was motioning to the fox's hiding place. Though the fox got away, he refused to thank the traitorous woodcutter because his hands were not as true as his words.
The Eagle and Fox, yet another Aesop tale, is a story of the two aforementioned animals who were good friends. They produced their young close to each other, but while the fox was out, the eagle swooped down and feed one of the Fox's kits to her baby eagles. The fox was sad but there was nothing she could do--until one day the eagle stole a piece of burning meat from some villagers. She did not notice it was on fire until it was too late. The piece of meat roasted her babies alive and they fell out of the nest--at the feet of the Fox--who happily chowed down on them.
The Fox without a Tail, by Aesop, tells of a fox with no tail who was embarrassed to be near his full-tailed fellow foxes. So, he proposed that all the foxes discard their tails, as they were very inconvenient when running away from hounds. The other foxes returned, "You wouldn't be pushing us to chop off our tails if you hadn't have lost yours yourself."
The Fox and the Crow, perhaps one of the more famous Aesop tales, tells of a crow who had a piece of cheese and a fox who flattered her until she dropped the cheese, which he then stole and left her with this advice: Do not trust flatterers.