A fox once fell into a trap, and after a struggle managed to get free, but with the loss of his brush. He was then so much ashamed of his appearance that he thought life was not worth living unless he could persuade the other Foxes to part with their tails also, and thus divert attention from his own loss. So he called a meeting of all the Foxes, and advised them to cut off their tails: "They're ugly things anyhow," he said, "and besides they're heavy, and it's tiresome to be always carrying them about with you."
有一只狐狸曾经掉进了陷阱，经过一番挣扎才得以脱身，却因此失去了自己的尾巴。它对自己的模样感到十分羞愧，觉得除非能说服其他狐狸也舍弃尾巴，转移大家对自己缺陷的注意，否则活着都没什么意思。于是它召集所有狐狸开会，劝说大家把尾巴都砍掉：“尾巴反正是丑陋的东西，”它说，“而且又沉又重，整天拖着它到处走也真是麻烦。”
But one of the other Foxes said, "My friend, if you hadn't lost your own tail, you wouldn't be so keen on getting us to cut off ours."
可是另一只狐狸说：“朋友，要是你自己没丢掉尾巴，你才不会这么热衷于劝我们砍掉我们的尾巴呢。”
