One day a farmer met a very friendly fox. The fox was furry and soft and as cute as you could imagine and terribly shy but very witty when he let his hair down. They had a lot of good times together, getting drunk in bars with the boys, ogling the girls, and telling each other silly jokes back and forth since each joke reminded the listener of a similar one to the one just told. This back and forth thing went on until they got so exhausted that they both fell asleep. The fox woke up first and gently nudged the farmer with his wet nose until the farmer also woke up thinking that he was having a wet dream. This embarrassed the farmer a little bit but the fox, assuming the farmer to be a soft touch, reassured him that he would keep his secret if the farmer would give him a safe place to sleep explaining that vicious wolverines had been prowling about looking for fresh fox meat to get their teeth into so sleeping in the woods had become a risky venture.
The farmer replied that his wife wouldn't even let their dogs sleep in the house but the fox could sleep in their well-protected chicken pen if the fox would promise not to eat the chickens and that this was very important since they planned to serve Eggs Benedict for Sunday brunch.
The fox gave his word and that was settled.
The next morning the fox appeared to have doubled in size and the chickens were nowhere to be seen. The farmer was greatly disappointed.
On the following Sunday at church, everyone admired the wife's lovely new fox-fur collar and commented on how soft it felt to the touch.
Moral:
For the farmer - Don't egg on someone to do something when you know they'll chicken out.
For the fox - A soft touch isn't always what you think it is.
© 2004__Muldoon Elder