Foxes can be sneaky. Foxes play tricks. This story is from Aesop’s Fables. In this story, a goat meets a fox. Does the goat fall for the fox’s tricks? Let’s start the story.

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The Fox and the Goat

One day, a fox runs in the field. He is running home to the forest. He thinks about what he will eat for dinner. He thinks about chicken for dinner. Maybe he will eat some fruit for dessert. He looks at the forest ahead of him, so he does not look at his feet. Suddenly, he falls down. He falls down into a deep hole.

The fox looks around the hole. The hole is dark. He tries to climb out of the hole. But the hole doesn’t have any stairs. The hole only has some water, because it is a well. The fox doesn’t have any way to climb out of the hole. The fox says loudly, “Help! I am stuck in this hole!” No one answers. Time passes. The fox is hungry.

Then the fox sees something at the top of the hole. He sees a goat’s head. The goat says, “Hello down there!” The fox says, “Hello, goat! I am stuck in this hole! I can’t get out.” The goat says, “Does the hole have any water? I am thirsty!” The fox says, “Yes, this hole has a lot of water. It’s a well. The water is delicious! Come down to try it.” The goat says, “I’m so thirsty! I’m coming down.”

The goat jumps into the hole. The goat drinks the water. The goat drinks the water, and the fox steps onto the goat’s back. The fox stands up on the goat’s back. Then the fox jumps out of the hole. The goat is so surprised. He says, “Fox, where are you going? Help me get out of this hole!” But the goat doesn’t hear anything. The fox is already gone. The fox is running to the forest. The fox says, “Silly goat, don’t go into a hole if you don’t have a way to get out!” The end.

In this story, the goat and the fox both make a mistake. They go into a hole, and they don’t have a way to get out. As the saying goes, “look before you leap.”