A very old lion lay ill in his cave. All of the animals came to pay their respects to their king except the fox. The wolf, sensing an opportunity, accused the fox in front of the lion:
“The fox has no respect for you or your rule. That is why he hasn’t even come to visit you.”
Just as the wolf was saying this, the fox arrived, and he overheard what the wolf said. Then the lion roared in rage at the fox, but the fox was able to speak in his own defense.
“And who, of all those who have gathered here, has rendered Your Majesty as much service as I have? For I have traveled far and wide asking physicians for a remedy for your illness, and I have found one.”
The lion demanded to know at once what cure he had found, and the fox said: “It is necessary for you to flay a wolf alive, and then take his skin and wrap it around you while it is still warm.”
The wolf was ordered to be taken immediately and flayed alive. As he was carried away, the fox turned to him with a smile and said, “You should have spoken well of
me to His Majesty rather than ill.”
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