in the road. So he stole out of the field and flung himself down once more in the road and pretended to be a dead corpse.

When Umm Salih rounded the bend she nearly fell over the fox's body. She cried out, saying: "Good Lord! Here is another dead fox. The plague must be spreading among the foxes. But the skins of two foxes would do for making a beautiful rug for my bed. I will leave my load here and go to fetch the other fox."

And she matched word with deed.

And what did the red fox do?

He sprang to his feet with the speed of lightning, snatched the stick—and the two hens with it—and went strutting on his way under the wing of dusk, as you can see in this picture. When Umm Salih came back to her basket she shook her head and sighed, saying:

"The world is teeming with thieves. Not content with stealing two foxes, they have stolen the two hens as well. Curse them for wicked criminals!" And she walked slowly on her way toward her little house standing on the hill.

Umm Salih had scarcely reached her house, and was about to open its door, when she heard the red fox calling in the darkness to his wife, who stood waiting for him in the belly of the valley. Her face darkened with anger—and no wonder she should burst with rage, for the red fox was chanting the following song:

"Come, my darling, come run-ning, come! I have taken two hens by a clever, devilish trick— one of them is for me and the other hen is for you. How sweet are hens, and how sweet are you!"