The Fox and the Hedgehog

A fox and a hedgehog were strolling through the forests. 

The fox was very proud of itself. It looked down at its prickly companion with a smug smile. “Do you know hedgehog, if the hounds suddenly come, I am so clever that I have a hundred different strategies to escape. I can double back on my tracks. I can leap over streams, and I have half a dozen secret burrows, all over the forest.” The fox looked even more smug. “I have a master plan for everything.” 

The fox finally looked at the hedgehog with pity. “You however, have nothing!”

The hedgehog was quiet for a few seconds. “I have one trick, and I think that is enough.”

Suddenly the fox and the hedgehog heard the hound’s howl echoing through the trees. 

The hedgehog did not pause. He tucked his head and pulled his paws and rolled himself into a tight sharp ball of defensive spikes.

On hearing the hounds, the fox's brilliant mind, however, went through many possibilities. 

The fox wondered whether he should run to the river, but then the fox decided against it, because the water current was too strong. Then, the fox wondered whether he had to double back, but then the fox realised that the wind was blowing straight towards the hound. Finally, the fox wondered whether he had to climb the ridge. But then the fox was afraid that this would damage his beautiful fur. 

So thinking all this, the fox was frozen on his tracks.

While the fox was still calculating all this, the hounds burst from the trees. 

The hedgehog remained perfectly safe inside his prickly armour. The hedgehog heard the commotion around and looked up only when the noise around him faded into the distance.

When the hedgehog finally felt that it was safe, he unrolled and looked around. 

The fox was, however, nowhere to be found.

The hedgehog went home safe that day, because he knew that one simple, reliable plan executed immediately was better than a hundred complex options.

Adapted from Aesop’s Fables