Reynard, the famous red fox, was lucky one day. He found a hole in the fence and got through into the hen coop and caught a cockerel by surprise. He would have got clean away except that all hens began to cluck with fear and the farmer's wife heard the racket and sounded the alarm.
The farmer set off in pursuit at once with his men and his dogs. And, while the men shouted the worst insults imaginable at the thief, what the dogs were barking was scarcely more complimentary.
'What kind of fox are you?' asked the clever cockerel. 'You let them call you all these names and you haven't even got the pride to answer them?'
Reynard, his self respect in question, turned to shout at his pursuers: 'You blockheads! You great snails! You'll never catch me!'
As he opened his mouth to shout the first word, the cockerel fled from his jaws and flew into a tall tree.
'You are the blockhead!' the cockerel crowed, raising its crest. 'Catch me now, if you can.'
Reynard, however, had enough on his plate without trying to recapture the cockerel. He forgot all about him and ran off at once; and he did not stop until he was safe in his den.
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