“The Bold Badger says in greeting,
‘The animals all hold a meeting,
so Funny Fox, come on, let’s go!
Or their secrets we’ll not know!’
The two animals went ‘trip, trap’ through the woods, and sure enough, they found a great group of animals talking as they sat in a circle.
When the Willful Wolf saw the Funny Fox and Bold Badger appear, he took off his glove and threw it down, saying, ‘Here I throw down the gauntlet and command you to fight before the Lordly Lion, who will set the day and hour!’
‘Softly, softly,’ said the Funny Fox. ‘My Lord, the King of Beasts, is ill with fever, and we will have to put off the fight.’
Laughing, the Funny Fox and Bold Badger departed, but the animals all decided to go soon to the Lordly Lion and tell him of the tricks the Funny Fox played upon them.
This was all very well until the Willful Wolf asked in a loud voice, ‘Who will be the first to make a complaint?’
One by one, the animals slipped out of the circle, and the Willful Wolf was left all alone.
He laughed until his old sides shook, and then rang a bell, at which all the animals returned.
He said, ‘We will all tell our complaints, and I will head the list, so we will stand together against the Funny Fox.’
‘All except the Bold Badger,’ said the Wise Old Owl, ‘and Aunty Ape and a few other friends.’
The Willful Wolf laughed at the idea of the Funny Fox having friends, and the meeting broke up in high good humor. One of the animals said, ‘Birds of a feather flock together.'”
