The Wolf and the Fox
The Wolf and the Fox | |
---|---|
Folk tale | |
Name | The Wolf and the Fox |
Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 41 |
Country | Germany |
Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"The Wolf and the Fox" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. The story involves a greedy, gluttonous wolf living with a fox. The wolf makes the fox do all his work and threatens to eat him if he does not otherwise comply. The fox, in turn, devises a scheme to rid himself of the wolf.[1]
Synopsis
A Wolf and a Fox are living together where the Fox (being the weaker of the two) is forced to do all the hard work for the Wolf. One day, the Wolf makes the Fox get him something to eat and the Fox says he knows where there are a couple of lambs. The Fox steals a lamb for the Wolf. But not content with just one, the Wolf goes back for more. He is caught by the farmer's men and thrown out after being severely beaten.
The next day, the Wolf again makes the Fox get him some food. The Fox says he knows of a house in the village where a woman is baking pancakes and steals some for the Wolf. Wanting more, the Wolf goes to the farm on his own, but causes a commotion which gets the woman's attention and is kicked out once again after she attacks him with her frying pan.
Some time later, the Wolf again makes the Fox get food. The Fox says he knows of a farmer's cellar where meat is being stored and leads the Wolf to the cellar. The Wolf gobbles up the meat. The Fox also takes some, but keeps checking to make sure he can still get out the way he came in. The Fox's constant scurrying gets the attention of the farmer who goes to investigate. The Fox is able to escape, but the Wolf has eaten so much that he cannot get out and is eventually caught and killed by the farmer.
Popular culture
- The Wolf and the Fox is included in anime series Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics. In the English dub, the Wolf is voiced by Steve Kramer and the Fox voiced by Dave Mallow. There were some differences in the plot of this episode. In this version, the Wolf has had terrible hunting skills where he was unable to catch a deer, some rabbits, a family of ducks, and was repelled by a farmer when he tried to target the farmer's cattle. The Wolf has also tried to obtain some followers from a deer, a squirrel, a hawk, and a bear. After the wolf threatens to eat him, the Fox ends up taking up the Wolf's previous offer to make him his follower which is where the Wolf makes the Fox obtain food for him. The first part involved fishing from a frozen pond during winter. The Wolf got his tail stuck in the ice which the Fox had to help the Wolf remove at the cost of part of the Wolf's tail. Then in the spring, Fox obtained a fried egg from a farmer's house. The Wolf tried to go for another, but broke one of the dishes giving himself away to the farmer's wife as the farmer beats up the Wolf. After talking with a deer, the Fox comes up with a plan where he takes the recuperated Wolf to a basement containing salted meat. To complete his trap to get rid of the Wolf, the Fox causes a racket to alert a local farmer and the Wolf gets stuck in the hole where he is caught by the farmer. The Fox continued to run and makes it back to the forest. The Fox tells the local animals that the Wolf isn't coming back and states that he is free of him.
- There is a song by the metal band Bring Me the Horizon entitled "The Fox and the Wolf" included in the album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. It is unknown if the song is related to this story in any way besides the name.
References
- ^ "The Wolf and the Fox" (PDF). Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- v
- t
- e
- Grimms' Fairy Tales
- Deutsche Sagen
- Deutsche Mythologie
- Deutsches Wörterbuch
tales
- "Bearskin"
- "The Brave Little Tailor"
- "Brother and Sister"
- "Cat and Mouse in Partnership"
- "Cinderella"
- "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs"
- "Doctor Know-all"
- "The Dog and the Sparrow"
- "The Elves and the Shoemaker"
- "The Fisherman and His Wife"
- "The Four Skillful Brothers"
- "The Frog Prince"
- "The Gnome"
- "Godfather Death"
- "The Golden Bird"
- "The Golden Goose"
- "The Goose Girl"
- "The Goose-Girl at the Well"
- "The Grave Mound"
- "Hans My Hedgehog"
- "Hansel and Gretel"
- "The Hut in the Forest"
- "The Jew Among Thorns"
- "Jorinde and Joringel"
- "The Juniper Tree"
- "The King of the Golden Mountain"
- "King Thrushbeard"
- "Little Red Riding Hood"
- "Mary's Child"
- "Mother Holle"
- "Old Hildebrand"
- "Old Sultan"
- "Pied Piper of Hamelin"
- "The Queen Bee"
- "Rapunzel"
- "The Riddle"
- "The Robber Bridegroom"
- "Rumpelstiltskin"
- "The Seven Ravens"
- "The Singing, Springing Lark"
- "The Six Servants"
- "The Six Swans"
- "Sleeping Beauty"
- "Snow White"
- "Snow-White and Rose-Red"
- "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was"
- "The Three Little Men in the Wood"
- "The Three Spinners"
- "Thumbling"
- "Town Musicians of Bremen"
- "Trusty John"
- "The Turnip"
- "The Twelve Brothers"
- "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
- "The Water of Life"
- "The White Snake"
- "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats"
- "The Wonderful Musician"
- Grimm's law
- Göttingen Seven
- Grim Tales
- The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
- Once Upon a Brothers Grimm
- Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
- The Brothers Grimm
- Grimm Tales
- The Sisters Grimm
- Fairy tale
- American McGee's Grimm
- German Fairy Tale Route
- Grimm
- Once Upon a Time
- The 10th Kingdom
- The Grimm Variations
- Category
- Commons