The Cunning Fox and the Magpie’s Eggs

High up in a big tree, Mama Magpie was proudly guarding her seventeen precious eggs, gazing at them with love.

Just then, a sly fox came by. His stomach was growling—he hadn’t eaten in days! Looking up, he spotted the delicious-looking eggs and licked his lips.

Foxes never let a good meal slip away. With a glint in his eye, he called up, “Magpie, magpie, won’t you spare a few eggs for me?”

“What?! No way! These are my little treasures—I’d never give them away!”

The fox grinned and started to sing:

If you don’t toss me an egg or two,
I’ll rip your big tree right out of the blue!
If you don’t give me something to chew,
I’ll ram this tree and make it fall through!
When all seventeen eggs hit the ground,
I’ll gobble them up, round by round!

To prove his point, he started gnawing at the tree trunk. Mama Magpie panicked and, with tears in her eyes, dropped an egg.

The next day, the fox returned, demanding more. The same trick worked—one by one, he ate sixteen of her eggs.

On the seventeenth day, the magpie sat in her nest, crying over her last remaining egg. A little quail happened to fly by and asked what was wrong.

Hearing the story, the quail shook her head. “Why should you give him anything? Do you owe him?”

The magpie hesitated, then imitated the fox’s threats.

The quail chuckled and whispered a few words in Mama Magpie’s ear.

When lunchtime came, the fox arrived as usual and sang his song. But this time, the magpie bobbed her head and sang back:

You say you’ll rip my tree out with ease?
Where are your claws to do such a feat?
You say you’ll ram it down to the ground?
Where are your horns? I don’t see them around!

The fox’s tail bristled in frustration. “Who taught you this nonsense?!”

“Oh, I figured it out while hopping about!~
Oh, I dreamed it up while snoozing, no doubt!~”

The fox howled in anger. “Tell me who it was, or I’ll chew down your tree! Tell me, or I’ll tear your nest apart!”

He gnawed and pushed at the tree. It groaned and swayed. Terrified, the magpie blurted, “It was—it was the quail!”

Furious, the fox dashed off to find the quail.

The little bird was dozing under a bush when she suddenly found herself in the fox’s jaws. But the quail remained calm.

“Oh, my clever fox, why are you holding me like this?” she cooed.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to eat you!”

The quail blinked. “Tell me first—are you one of those dull, dirt-brown foxes, or are you the elegant Rubyred Fox?”

“Hmph! What’s the difference?”

“Well,” the quail said with a knowing smile, “a common dirt-brown fox eats like a toothless old granny, with his mouth closed tight. But a true, graceful Rubyred Fox dines with dignity—he sets his food down and eats properly.”

The fox puffed up his chest. He wanted to be a sophisticated fox! Without thinking, he opened his mouth to set the quail down… and whoosh! The quail flew away.

The fox lunged forward but only managed to grab her tail.

And that’s why quails today have no tails—just a round, little rump!

Hey! I am the RubyredFox! :P