Once upon a time there lived a fox. One day she left her hole and went hunting. In a forest clearing she met a young rabbit. The rabbit asked:
- Tell me please, what kind of animal are you? Lisa replied:
“I am a fox, and I am going to catch you and eat you.”
- How can you prove that you are a fox? What evidence do you have for this? — the rabbit asked importantly
The fox was somewhat taken aback and did not know what to say in response, because before the rabbits had run away from her headlong without such strange questions.
Rabbit said:
“If you can show me written proof that you are a fox, then I will believe you, and if not, then you have no right to eat me.”
So the fox ran to the lion, who gave her written proof that she was indeed a fox. She returned to the clearing where the rabbit was waiting for her, and slowly began to read him the document proving her identity. This gave the fox such pleasure that she lingered for a long time on each paragraph, and repeated the passages she especially liked several times. Meanwhile, having grasped the meaning of the message from the first few lines, the rabbit rushed away, hid in its hole and did not show itself again. The fox, who did not expect such a disrespectful act from him, ran back to the lion's den. There she saw a deer cheekily talking to a lion. Deer said:
“I want to see written proof that you are a lion.”
“When I’m full, I don’t need to worry about proof, but when I’m hungry, then you don’t need any scribbles, because I’ll tear you apart and eat you anyway,” said the Lion, rushed at the deer and tore it to pieces.
The fox wisely waited for the lion to finish his meal, approached him and asked:
- Wise lion! Why didn't you tell me to do like you when I asked for an ID for the rabbit?
“My dear friend,” said the lion, “you should have said right away that the rabbit demanded the ID.” I thought it was for those stupid human beings from whom some of the stupid forest animals learned such stupid entertainment.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru