Summary
Once, a fox that heard the chanting of a monk living in an ancient temple in India came to believe that “if one has a noble heart, they can become the king of animals.” Carrying this thought, the fox walked along the road and encountered another fox.
“Look! I am a noble fox!” one fox boasted, puffing out its chest, and called another fox to climb onto its back.
The next fox was inspired by this and jumped onto the back of yet another fox. In this way, the foxes followed one after another, forming a procession. “We are the noble fox army!” one fox proudly declared. Seeing this, a dog thought, “That fox must surely be the king of beasts,” and bowed its head by the roadside.
The noble-hearted fox continued to climb onto the backs of dogs, deer, tigers, bears, and even elephants, finally reigning on the back of the elephant. The fox thought to itself, “Now, I am the king of all beasts!”
However, when a lion appeared, the fox grew even more arrogant and said, “Let me ride on your back.” The lion replied, “You are indeed the king of all beasts. Please, climb aboard.” The fox was ecstatic and stretched its body even higher.
Thinking, “I will command even more lions,” it headed towards a wide plain. The animals were impressed, saying, “Our new leader has even befriended the fearsome lions!”
However, the lions began to roar as they habitually did. “Roar!” At that moment, the fox was struck with fear and clung to the lion’s mane, but with a powerful roar, it was thrown into the air and violently hit its head on the ground, dying instantly.
The lion muttered, “I let you ride because I thought you were the king of all beasts, yet you fell off as soon as I roared. I was indeed deceived by a petty creature. But this is the true state of affairs,” and returned to its den.
