Summer has flown by so fast,
Soon comes autumn, winter's blast.
The snake began to think and fret:
"I don't have a fur coat yet!
All the animals have fur so warm,
I have only skin—what a form!"
And she sighed upon the hill,
Her sad thoughts would not be still.
By came a beautiful fox,
Wearing her red fur, no shocks.
The snake hissed out in her wake:
"Oh, how I wish that coat I'd take!"
A wolf heard her cry of woe
And said to her: "Now, no, no!
In a coat you couldn't swim—
You would tear yourself to the brim.
We animals need fur so thick,
For winter's cold, a helpful trick.
Our fur protects us from the freeze,
A shield against the icy breeze!
But you sleep in winter's care,
In your burrow, safe down there.
You don't need fur at all, you see,
Nor a hearty meal while you sleep free".
This tale has a lesson true:
"Envy is bad, my friend, for you".
