It was a fox. She was a smartly dressed, reddish beauty who, gracefully swaying her hips and waving her fluffy tail, moved slowly along a narrow forest path. The character of this beauty was the complete opposite of her appearance.
Her cunning and slyness were so unbearable that all the forest inhabitants tried to avoid meeting her. The fox walked along, clearly looking for someone. Yes, she intended to meet anyone at all, just to lift her spirits, which had been off since morning.
Mood... Suddenly the beauty noticed that the male fox hadn't admired her charms for a long time, hadn't complimented her new beautiful outfits, so perfectly suited to her slender figure. And quite the opposite—he had started making stupid and absurd remarks like "...a home is empty without little chubby fox cubs" and "...the house doesn't smell like a proper homemaker...".
"Foxes become foolish with age!" she decided, but her mood...
The fox had the best remedy for melancholy: to deceive someone, lead them astray, or simply gossip. Alas, the path was empty, the forest seemed deserted.
Suddenly the grass rustled, and a snake appeared on the path. Her appearance was so unexpected that the fox involuntarily shuddered, but, quickly recovering, straightened up, displaying her slender figure, and immediately began to speak:
Greetings, wisest of the wise! How delighted I am to meet precisely you! Of course, I'm in quite a hurry, but to speak with you is an honour for every forest dweller. You know... They say that plump hens and turkeys have appeared at the market, and I'd love to taste something delicious! Let's go together and have a grand time!
The fox was afraid of losing her interlocutor, spoke in a rush, and this made her even more attractive. Without stopping for a second, she quickly turned her monologue to personal matters, as if hurrying to express everything that had accumulated in her passionate soul.
Finally, the heated beauty blurted out almost everything that tormented her proud fox heart. She waited a moment and, hearing no response, continued her monologue a bit more slowly:
But since you've crossed my path, tell me, why are all these "husbands" such bores? My betrothed has long intended to turn me into a dowdy housewife, neglected and unwanted. But no!
The fox lifted her nose.
I'm still young and beautiful to be sitting in a burrow...
Snakes, as we know, are indeed distinguished by wisdom and few words.
Such is life,
she said.
Any merriment will eventually end, and we'll be left alone with our conscience. And no one can escape this difficult conversation, no one.
These words, spoken into the void, were not preachy and did not provoke a storm of protest in the fox's wilful heart, but something stirred in the soul of this proud creature, an unknown force made her sit down on a nearby tree stump.
The vain beauty no longer wanted to display her outfits, go anywhere, see anyone, or chatter endlessly...
And somehow she no longer wanted to rejoice in others' misfortunes.
Slowly the fox made her way home, put on a simple, modest coat, and set about cleaning her long-neglected burrow...
