There was once a fox and a tiger who lived in a forest. It so happened that when the tiger was very hungry it met the fox, in the forest.
The tiger bared its teeth and decided to pounce on the fox to eat the other animal.
The quick thinking fox shook its head. “You are not the only king of beasts. I am also powerful. I may not be as strong and courageous as you are, and humans fear me too. So do not eat me now.”
The Tiger looked disbelievingly at the fox. “Humans fear you?”
The fox nodded. “Let us work together. Please keep behind me so that I will walk before you. If any humans see me they will fear me. Then you will believe that I am also powerful.”
The tiger was now curious to know whether the fox was right and was willing to do this.
The fox led the tiger on a broad highway.
Soon some travelers came on the other side of the highway.
The travelers saw the fox on the highway and ignored it. But the traveler saw that there was a tiger behind the fox. That frightened the humans and they ran away from there.
The Tiger looked at the fox as the fox looked smugly. “I told you that the men fear me too. Am I not right?”
The tiger was suddenly frightened and because he thought that the fox was powerful in some way that he did not know.
So, the tiger ran away from there not knowing that he had frightened the humans and not the fox.
That was how the clever fox saved itself that day.
Adapted from Chinese Folk Tales
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