Chapter 6 The Reynard Fox and the Hunter in "The Story of Reynard the Fox"——True and Fake Fox Fur

Reynard set off to travel to distant places.Wanting to avoid Ethan Grand's revenge was more or less his motive for going out this time, and Mrs. Emmelina also tried her best to persuade her husband to do so. The weather was fine, and Reynard Fox ran happily on the road.At noon he satiated himself with a few chicks--caught by Reynard's fox while walking with their careless mother in a glade--drank some cool water from a small spring, and went on Hurry up. He wanted to visit a cousin of his who lived near the great estate of a wealthy prince.The prince was an avid hunter, and was therefore a dreadful neighbor.

But there were so many chickens and ducks in the farm on the estate, and besides, with a little tact, a good deal of food could be obtained in the cellars of the castle.So Reynard's cousin decided it was worth living there, even if it took some risk. Besides, he acted cautiously, and he had figured out the hunter's temper, so the danger was not too great. Reynard hoped that, if not with the hunter, at least with his flocks and his cupboard full of delicious hams.These things made the estate a paradise, a paradise like the one he had bragged about to Ethan Grande. He thought about it while running, feeling happy in his heart.

After a while, he walked into a lush forest.Seeing his cousin occupying such a beautiful territory, he was very envious.Compared with here, Maobaidu's environment is too bad!Reynard was in a trance, imagining moving his home here. Suddenly, very close to him, there was a hunting noise--the barking of hounds, the shouting of hunters, and the clatter of horses' hooves.For Reynard, this means disaster is coming. He had not anticipated the hunt, and was unfamiliar with the terrain, so he felt that his life was at stake. The hounds have spotted him. The shouts of "Fox! Fox!" made the silent forest into chaos, and sounded the death knell in Reynard's ears.

Reynard first sprinted forward at the fastest speed, and then scurried here and there in the old way of beating around the bush.However, a large group of hunters and hounds have already chased them, and they are proficient in hunting art. Reynard Fox soon fell into a heavy siege, and the only way out was the drawbridge leading to the castle.Then he rushed past like a gust of wind. The prince shouted triumphantly: "Haha, he has thrown himself into the net, he has been captured!" Although Reynard Fox was announced to be captured, he ran like a castle and disappeared.Hunters and hounds rushed to search everywhere, but they couldn't find the fox. He disappeared in the castle like a ghost.

People searched the roof of the building from the cellar, searched the neighboring houses, rummaged inside and out, even checked the oven and the dough bowl, but they never found the slightest trace of this alert fox. "Alas," said the Prince, in great distress at the loss of such a fine game, "where can he go?" "I think this fox is a ghost, but I can't let the ghost stay in my house. I must drive him out." Several people who refused to give up continued to search, but finally found nothing.The prince announced that he would rest for the time being that night.

"Let's have dinner," the prince said, "have some food, cheer up, and continue looking for tomorrow." That night, there was a lot of discussion around this matter.The women mocked the hunters for their incompetence, and the hunters were determined to take revenge the next day. At dawn, they started hunting again.They had just left the castle when they found Reynard Fox standing by the woods, watching them come. This time it was Reynard the fox who was luring the hunter. He made the same detours as the day before, led the pack of hounds and hunters to the drawbridge of the castle, and then, just like the first time, disappeared without a trace, and no one could find him again.

For three consecutive days, Reynard fox teased them like this: In the morning, people saw him enjoying the shade in the forest clearing, so they went to hunt him, but he disappeared strangely soon.People in the castle thought it was possessed by a demon. On the fourth day, the prince was a little more relaxed about this matter because some relatives came to visit him with generous gifts. People hunt wild boars vigorously, and they don't pay much attention to Reynard fox.At night, when the hunters came back, they saw the fox who seemed to be waiting for them on purpose, so they rushed at him again.

As in the previous days, Reynard disappeared immediately again.This incident became the subject of conversations with the guests. At dinner, the table was covered with platters of fresh game.The guest in the easy chair looked up at the wall and said: "Oh, praise God, you have ten such precious fox skins hanging here. Is the one you want to hunt as fine as these?" "Ten?" the master asked in surprise, because he remembered exactly how many fox furs there were. "No, there are only nine." Before he could continue speaking, a dog barking came from outside the door.

The guest laughed. "That is the dog I brought, and he is faithful to me, and never leaves me." He said, "Would you, madam, order the maid to let him come in, and lie at my feet as he used to do. He has been with me for many years , became my partner." The servant opened the door, and the dog entered.But instead of going to his master's feet, he howled wildly at the fox fur hanging on the wall. "What's the matter?" said the prince, "We used to have only nine fox skins, but now we have ten." So the prince approached the wall and watched carefully.

"Your Excellency!" he exclaimed, "this is a marvelous thing! You see, among these furs, isn't there a live fox that we have had such a hard time finding? He stands tall Hanging himself and pretending to be dead. But this time, he can't escape!" He reached out for Reynard, and Reynard bit him hard, and then ran away again while everyone was screaming at him. When people thought that they should quickly pull up the drawbridge, he had already fled a long way.He smiled lightly, glad that he had managed to trick a whole bunch of hunters in this way. He no longer went to see his cousin, but returned home by the same road, and soon found his dear Amolina and the children, and related the experience to them.