The Fox

One cold winter morning, a fox went to drink water from a frozen pond. He bent down to sip, but his tail touched the icy surface and got stuck!

“Oh no,” thought the fox. “My beautiful tail! What should I do?”

The fox tried to pull his tail free. “If I tug hard, I might lose some fur,” he thought. “But I can’t ruin my tail—it’s so fluffy and golden!” He decided to wait for the ice to melt instead.

The fox sat by the pond, shivering and waiting. But the ice only froze harder, and his tail got even more stuck. Morning came, and the fox heard voices. The villagers were waking up!

“Now what do I do?” cried the fox. “If they see me like this, they’ll laugh at me!”

Just then, a wolf passed by. The fox called out, “Oh, dear friend! Please help me! My tail is stuck, and I can’t get free. If you don’t save me, I’ll be caught by the villagers!”

The wolf came closer and looked at the fox’s frozen tail. “I’ll help you, but I have only one idea,” said the wolf.

“Anything!” said the fox. “Just get me out of here!”

The wolf nodded. “I’ll bite off your tail, and then you’ll be free!”

The fox gasped. “My tail? But it’s so beautiful!” He thought for a moment. “What’s more important—my tail or my life?”

Finally, the fox agreed. The wolf bit the tail and freed the fox. The fox ran into the woods, relieved to be safe, even without his tail.