A fox’s tail was caught in a trap. When he was trying to release himself, he lost his whole tail except the stump.
At first he was ashamed to see the other foxes because he had no tail, but he was determined to face his misfortune. He called all the foxes to a meeting.
When they had gotten together, the fox said that they should all do away with their tails.
He said that their tails were very inconvenient when they met with their enemies.
He did not talk about any advantages of the tail. "You are right," said one of the older foxes, "but I don’t think you would advise us to do away with our tails if you hadn’t lost it yourself first."