The Wedding of Mrs. Fox
FIRST TALE.
There was once upon a time a Fox with nine tails, who thought his wife was not faithful to him, and determined to put it to the proof. So he stretched himself along under a bench, and, keeping his legs perfectly still, he appeared as if quite dead. Mrs. Fox, meanwhile, had ascended to her room, and shut herself in; and her maid, the young Cat, stood near the hearth cooking. As soon as it was known that Mr. Fox was dead, several suitors came to pay their respects to his widow. The maid, hearing some one knocking at the front door, went and looked out, and saw a young Fox, who asked,
“How do you do, Miss Kitten?
Is she asleep or awake?”
The maid replied,
“I neither sleep nor wake;
Would you know my business!
Beer and butter both I make;
Come and be my guest!”
“I am obliged, Miss Kitten,” said the young Fox; “but how is Mrs. Fox?”
The maid replied,
“She sits in her chamber,
Weeping so sore;
Her eyes red with crying—
Mr. Fox is no more.”
“Tell her then, my maiden, that a young Fox is here, who wishes to marry her,” said he. So the Cat went pit-pat, pit-a-pat up the stairs, and tapped gently at the door, saying, “Are you there, Madam Fox?” “Yes, my good little Cat,” was the reply. “There is a suitor below.” “What does he look like?” asked her mistress. “Has he nine as beautiful tails as my late husband?” “Oh no,” answered the maid, “he has only one.” “Then I will not have him,” said the mistress. The young Cat went down and sent away the suitor; and soon after there came a second knock at the door, from another Fox with two tails, who wished to marry the widow; he fared, however, no better than the former one. Afterwards came six more, one after the other, each having one tail more than he who preceded him; but these were all turned away. At last there arrived a Fox with nine tails, like the deceased husband, and when the widow heard of it, she said, full of joy, to the Cat, “Now you may open all the windows and doors, and turn the old Fox out of the house.” But just as the wedding was about to be celebrated, the old Fox roused himself from his sleep beneath the bench, and drubbed the whole rabble, together with his wife, out of the house, and hunted them far away.
A SECOND ACCOUNT.
Narrates that when the old Fox appeared dead, the Wolf came as a suitor, and knocked at the door; and the Cat, who served as servant to the widow, got up to see who was there.
“Good day, Miss Cat; how does it happen that you are sitting all alone? What good are you about?”
The Cat answered, “I have been making some bread and milk. Will my lord be my guest?”
“Thanks, many thanks,” replied the Wolf, “is Madam Fox not at home?”
The Cat sung,
“She sits in her chamber,
Weeping so sore;
Her eyes red with crying—
Mr. Fox is no more.”
Then the Wolf said, “If she wishes for another husband, she had better come down to me.”
So the Cat ran up the stairs, her tail trailing behind, and when she got to the chamber door, she knocked five times, and asked, “Is Madam Fox at home? If so, and she wishes to have another husband, she must come down stairs.”
Mrs. Fox asked, “Does the gentleman wear red stockings, and has he a pointed mouth?” “No,” replied the Cat. “Then he will not do for me,” said Mrs. Fox, and shut the door.
After the Wolf had been turned away, there came a Dog, a Stag, a Hare, a Bear, a Lion, and all the beasts of the forest, one after another. But each one was deficient of the particular qualities which the old Fox had possessed, and the Cat was obliged therefore to turn away every suitor. At last came a young Fox; and when the question was asked whether he had red stockings and a pointed mouth, the cat replied, “Yes,” and she was bid to call him up and prepare for the wedding. Then they threw the old Fox out of the window, and the Cat caught and ate as many mice as she could, in celebration of the happy event.
And after the marriage they had a grand ball, and, as I have never heard to the contrary, perhaps they are dancing still.
