Once upon a time a fox and a sheep were neighbors. The sheep was so round and fat that the fox wanted to eat him up, but since that would not be a neighborly thing to do, he thought and thought of an excuse to eat the fat sheep. So one day the fox went to call on the sheep.

“Let us play games together, Sheep-Man,” said Mr. Fox, “Let us play hiding. I will hide and if you cannot find me then I will eat you up.”

Now since the fox was the sheep’s guest, the sheep had to play with him. So the fox hid under a pile of blankets. The sheep looked about and soon found him.

“Now it is my turn to hide,” said Mr. Sheep. He hid among the rocks; but the fox found him, too.

“Let us play rolling,” suggested Mr. Fox. “We shall roll down the side of this wash and if I beat you then I will eat you.”

So they tumbled down the slope; but the sheep was fatter and rounder than the fox so he reached the bottom first.

Mr. Fox was disappointed for he wanted very much to eat that nice fat sheep.

“Well, let us run a race,” said Mr. Fox “and if I beat I shall eat you up.” He was sure he could run faster than a fat sheep.

So they ran a race; but the fox stepped on a sharp stone and turned his ankle. He could not run fast with a sprained ankle, so he just limped along and the sheep won the race.

“Now let us play jumping,” said Mr. Fox. “We will jump over this wash and whoever does not jump across to the other side will be eaten.”

The fox jumped across easily; but the sheep only got three legs over. His fourth leg slipped into the wash.

“Good,” laughed Mr. Fox, “now I can eat your leg.” So the fox cut off one of the sheep’s hind legs and roasted it.

After that the lame sheep was never at home when the fox came to call.