The Fox and the Grapes

A Hungry Fox

One sunny afternoon, a fox was trotting through the woods. Pad, pad, pad. His tummy was very empty, and it rumbled. Grrr.

"I am SO hungry," said the fox. "I wish I could find something nice to eat."

Just then, he came to a tall vine growing up the side of a wall. And what did he see? A big bunch of grapes! They were round and purple and shiny. They looked juicy and sweet.

"Yummy!" said the fox. His mouth watered. "Those grapes are just what I want."

Jump, Jump, Jump

But the grapes hung high, high up on the vine — far above the fox's head.

The fox crouched down low. Then he jumped. Boing! But his paws missed the grapes by a long way.

"I will try again," he said.

He ran a little, then jumped higher. Boing! Still he could not reach them.

He took a big breath. He ran fast. He jumped as high as he could. BOING! But the grapes were just too far away.

The fox tried again and again. He huffed and he puffed. He jumped until his legs were tired. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach a single grape.

"They Were Probably Sour Anyway"

At last, the fox sat down. He looked up at the grapes one more time.

He did not want to feel sad. So instead of saying "I am sad I could not reach them," he turned up his nose and said:

"Hmph! Those grapes are probably sour anyway. I did not really want them."

And off he trotted, with his nose in the air, pretending he did not care at all.

But of course, the grapes were not sour. They were sweet and juicy. The fox only said that because he could not have them.

It is easy to call something bad just because we cannot reach it. But that does not make it true!

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The moral: It is silly to say something is bad just because we cannot have it. It is better to be honest about how we feel.

Want more read-along tales? Try The Lion and the Mouse or The Ant and the Grasshopper next.