Fables and Folktales

Long ago in a Small Chinese village, there was a man who was soon to be wed to a beautiful girl. As a wedding gift he wanted to give her the most beautiful fur coat.  The man went out into the forest in search of an animal whose skin would make a beautiful fur coat. He sat up in a tree and waited for his chance. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a fox with a magnificent coat of fur.  The man Jumped down from the tree and grabbed hold of the fox by the tail. He said to the fox, "I am soon to be married, and want to give my bride the most beautiful fur coat. Can you give me your skin?" The fox realized he was in danger and had to think quickly about how to answer the man so he could be free.  "I would be happy to give you any skin, but I can't help you with you holding on so tightly to my tail. If you let go, I will help you give your bride a beautiful fur coat. The man trusted the clever fox and let go of the tail. As soon as he let go, the fox ran away laughing at the man for being so foolish.

Once there was a goat that lived in a beautiful pasture. The goat was grazing on some grass when he heard something approaching. Startled, he turned around but it was too late! A sneaky wolf had caught him. The goat knew that he couldn't escape the strong clutch the wolf had on him and he had to think of a plan in order to escape. The goat said to the wolf, "I know that I will soon be eaten, but may I have one last favor from you? Will you play me a song so that I can dance one last time?"

The wolf took pity on the goat and decided that the least he could do was play him a song before eating him. The wolf took out his pipes and began to play. The sound of he pipes carried across the pasture where some hungry dogs became curious. The dogs followed the sound through the pasture and spotted the wolf. The dogs started to chase the wolf with hunger in their eyes. The wolf knew that he had been fooled and ran away while the goat continued to graze in the pasture. His clever plan had worked and he was safe.