She was a fox. She—a smartly dressed reddish beauty, gracefully swaying her hips and waving her fluffy tail, slowly moved along a narrow forest path. The beauty's character was the complete opposite of her outward appearance.
Her cunning and deceitfulness 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 for a long time the Fox had not seen her charm, her new beautiful clothes, so well suited to her slender figure, had not paid her compliments. And even on the contrary, he had begun to make some foolish and absurd remarks like "...a home is empty without little chubby fox cubs," and "...the house doesn't smell like a mistress...."
"Foxes get stupider 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 glad I am to meet precisely you! I am, of course, in a great hurry, but to speak with you is an honour for every inhabitant of the forest. You know... They say that at the fair there have appeared well-fed hens and turkeys, I want to taste something delicious! Let's go together and have a merry time!
The fox was afraid of losing her interlocutor, spoke in a rush and this made her even more attractive. She, without stopping for a second, somehow quickly turned her monologue to personal problems, 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, having waited a moment and, hearing no answer, continued her monologue a bit more slowly:
But if you have met me, then tell me, why are all "husbands" such bores? My betrothed has long intended to turn me into a housewife, filthy and needed by no one. But no!
The fox raised her nose.
I am still young and beautiful to sit 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 will be left alone with our conscience. And no one will escape this difficult conversation, no one.
These words, spoken into the void, were not didactic and did not provoke a storm of protest in the wilful heart of the fox, but something stirred in the soul of the proud one, an unknown force made her sit down on the nearest stump.
The dressed-up beauty no longer wanted to display her clothes, go anywhere, see anyone and chatter endlessly...
And for some reason, 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....
