Pagina 243 de 274

An Eagle and a Fox became great friends and determined to live

near one another: they thought that the more they saw of each

other the better friends they would be. So the Eagle built a nest

at the top of a high tree, while the Fox settled in a thicket at

the foot of it and produced a litter of cubs. One day the Fox

went out foraging for food, and the Eagle, who also wanted food

for her young, flew down into the thicket, caught up the Fox's

cubs, and carried them up into the tree for a meal for herself

and her family. When the Fox came back, and found out what had

happened, she was not so much sorry for the loss of her cubs as

furious because she couldn't get at the Eagle and pay her out for

her treachery. So she sat down not far off and cursed her. But it

wasn't long before she had her revenge. Some villagers happened

to be sacrificing a goat on a neighbouring altar, and the Eagle

flew down and carried off a piece of burning flesh to her nest.