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Jeryck
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#8
Old 05-08-2008, 10:44 PM

This is an excerpt from The Book of Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Legends of Menewsha: Volume IV (Fairy and Folk Tales), compiled by and re-written by literary historian, Sir Cassian Keane the Third.

How the Heart-Faced Fox Got an Ever-Changing Coat

Once upon a time, there lived a fox with a heart on his face in place of a pair of eyes. The fox spent his days running through the forests of Menewsha, but he never found another of his kind.

"I am all alone," he cried in the fox language, and hung his head. But the fox never gave up searching for more like himself, even though his fur turned slowly black from sadness.

One day, he stopped by a running stream and drank from it. When he looked up, he saw a spirit beside him.

"What is the matter, black fox?" The spirit asked, tilting its head to the side curiously.

"I am all alone!" The black fox replied. "Every day I run through the forest looking for foxes like me, but every fox I meet has eyes on their face. I'm the only one with a heart!"

The spirit thought for a moment and said, "Ah - you are lonely. I see." The black fox nodded and started to leave, but the spirit spoke again. "Sometimes, black fox, I am lonely too."

"I'm sorry, Spirit. If you like, I could keep you company while I search."

"I would like that," the spirit said. And the two kept each other company for many years, during which, the black fox was happier as the spirit's company eased his loneliness, but his coat stayed black.

After a few years passed, they arrived again at the stream where they had first met. "Here I must leave you, Fox," the spirit said. The fox hung his head again and his fur immediately darkened to a pitch-black. "But I won't leave you alone."

The spirit walked them to the edge of the water and gestured the stream. "I will make as many heart-faced foxes as you see reflections of yourself in the water." Having said that, the spirit disappeared.

"All right, Spirit." And so the fox kicked several pebbles into the stream and saw dozens - hundreds - of reflections of himself. And when he looked up again, there were as many heart-faced foxes beside him!

The fox was so happy, his coat turned white. "Good-bye, Friend! Thank you!" the fox called to the spirit, and danced and played with his new friends.

Ever since, the heart-face foxes could change their coats from black to white, depending on their moods or the moods of those they loved the best.

Last edited by zigbigadorlube; 11-25-2014 at 02:19 AM..