The Eagle and the Fox from Aesop’s fables with video and vocabulary in real context
The Eagle and the Fox is now in the public domain available at: Gutenberg Project
Video of The Eagle and the Fox
The Eagle and the Fox
An eagle and a fox became great friends and determined to live near one another: they thought that the more they saw of each other, the better friends they would be.
- determined: strong-minded, resolute
So the eagle built a nest at the top of a high tree, while the fox settled in a thicket at the foot of it and produced a litter of cubs.
- settle in: to live in a new and comfortable place and stay there for a long time
- thicket: thick growth of bushes and small trees, undergrowth
One day, the fox went out foraging for food, and the eagle, who also wanted food for her young, flew down into the thicket, caught up the fox’s cubs, and carried them up into the tree for a meal for herself and her family.
- forage: to go around searching for food
When the fox came back, and found out what had happened, she was not so much sorry for the loss of her cubs as furious because she couldn’t get at the eagle and pay her out for her treachery.
- furious: angry
- treachery: deceit, treason, betrayal
So she sat down not far off and cursed her. But it wasn’t long before she had her revenge. Some villagers happened to be sacrificing a goat on a neighboring altar, and the eagle flew down and carried off a piece of burning flesh to her nest.
- to curse: to use bad language and swear
- revenge: retaliation, payback
There was a strong wind blowing, and the nest caught fire, with the result that her fledglings fell half-roasted to the ground. Then the fox ran to the spot and devoured them in full sight of the eagle.
- fledgling: newly hatched chickens, young offspring
- devour: to eat something greedily and hastily
False faith may escape human punishment, but cannot escape the divine.
