Two days passed without any one coming to the well. Time, which is
always marching onward, had, during two nights, hollowed the outline
of the silvery planet, and Reynard was in despair.

[Illustration: Descended by his greater weight.]

At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom the fox called
from below, "Comrade, here is a treat for you! Do you see this? It is an
exquisite cheese, made by Faunus[16] from milk of the heifer Io.[17] If
Jupiter were ill and lost his appetite he would find it again by one
taste of this. I have only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be
plenty for you. Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on
purpose for you."

A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the fool of a wolf,
who descended by his greater weight, which not only took him down, but
brought the fox up.


We ought not to laugh at the wolf, for we often enough let ourselves be
deluded with just as little cause. Everybody is ready to believe the
thing he fears and the thing he desires.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 16: The benign spirit of the fields and woods.]

[Footnote 17: A priestess who was changed by Hera, wife of Zeus, into a
white heifer.]