Three Hundred Æsop's Fables/The Fox who had lost his Tail
THE FOX WHO HAD LOST HIS TAIL.
A Fox caught in a trap, escaped with the loss of his "brush." Henceforth feeling his life a burden from the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, he schemed to bring all the other Foxes into a like condition with himself, that in the common loss he might the better conceal his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes, and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying "that they would not only look much better without them, but that they would get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great inconvenience." One of them interrupting him said, "If you had not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us."