The Ass in the Lion Skin

Nobody knows where the donkey found the lion's skin. But he pulled it over his back, and he tied the paws under his chin, and he looked at himself in the stream. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Off he went into the forest. The rabbits saw him and dived down their holes. The deer saw him and leaped away. The sheep saw him and ran bleating up the hill. The donkey had never had so much fun. He swished his tail. He strutted up one path and down the next. Who was king of the forest now?

Then he met a fox. The fox was sitting on a log, scratching his ear. He did not dive. He did not leap. He did not run.

The donkey took a deep breath. He would show this fox! He reared up, opened his mouth and roared as loud as he could. "Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"

The fox scratched his other ear. "Do you know," he said, "I might have been frightened of you myself. But then I heard you."