Deep in a forest, there lived a fox, a bear, and some hounds. Now the fox was full of mischief and trickery, and was highly disliked. He always tricked the hounds and the bear.
One day the bear, having invaded a hive, was tricked so badly he got angry. The fox, wanting the hive and honey the bear had, yelled for help from a spot a little ways a way.
The bear, which was enjoying the honey, scrambled as fast as he could to the spot. When the fox heard the bear crashing through the undergrowth, he circled around him.
‘Ha,’ he thought gleefully. ‘That dumb old bear won’t know what happened.’
Snickering to himself he snatched up the hive and trotted away. The bear, not knowing what called him, sat there, scratching his head, searching for what had called him. Finally he gave up and went back to his meal. When he got there, he could not find the hive. He thought confused again. Then he realized the fox was to blame.
‘I’m sure I put it right here.’
Meanwhile…
Wandering around with a sticky snout the fox wondered what to do. He thought of bugging the hounds but did not know where they were. He caught their scent and followed it. Little did he know the bear was also there. The bear having had a chat with the hounds was constructing a box, which was hard with his clumsy paws. The hounds had instructed him to make a box and put bait into it. Then camouflage it to look like a bush.
When he finished he baited it and camouflaged it as instructed. Then he and the hounds hid from sight. Not long after they heard the fox coming. They watched him sniff the box and walk in. SNAP Then they heard a yelp.
“HA” yelled the bear dancing around with glee. “Gotcha now. Who’s smart now? Huh?”
The fox pleaded them to let him out but they told him “You have to stop pulling tricks on us.”
“Anything,” he pleaded. “Anything.”
When they let him out the bear and the other two hounds left, while one hound ate the bait. The fox, seeing his meal eaten, bit the hound and ran. The others heard the last hound yelp and ran back. Noticing the fox the leading hound dashed after him. The fox being tricky and mischievous ran across a weak log. The hound, which weighed more than the fox, also ran over the log. The log snapped and the hound fell into the water.
Tired out from chasing the fox he tired getting back to the nearest shore. The strong current gave him a tough timer and he finally got to the shore. Seeing two of his brothers the almost dead he howled loudly telling all the other hounds in the forest what happened. This is why hounds always chase foxes when they are spotted or smelled.