The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
Encyclopedia
The Cock, the Dog and the Fox is one of Aesop's Fables
and appears as number 252 in the Perry Index
. Although it has similarities with other fables where a predator flatters a bird, such as The Fox and the Crow
and Chanticleer and the Fox
, in this one the cock is the victor rather than victim. There are also Eastern variants of this story.
An ancient Indian variant of the fable appears in the Buddhist scriptures as the Kukuta-Jataka
. Here a predatory cat, having killed all the other fowls, tries to woo the cock down with a promise of marriage, but it is not to be deceived and denounces the cat for its former slaughter. In its journey westwards, the tale was eventually included in The Thousand and One Nights and was translated by Richard F. Burton as The Pleasant History of the Cock and the Fox. This version, enlarged by the fox's many flights of rhetoric, recounts how the beast tries to lure the cock down from a wall with the news that universal friendship has been declared between the hunters and the hunted. The cock refuses even to acknowledge the fox's fine words but finally announces that he is convinced for he can see greyhounds running towards them who must be messengers from the King of the Beasts. When the agitated fox starts to leave, the cock asks him the reason; the fox replies that he fears the dogs were not present when the peace was announced.
This version of the story was an influence on the fable's retelling in Europe. It is to be found early among the humorous stories of Poggio Bracciolini's Facetiae (1450), where the fleeing fox explains only that the dogs have not yet heard that peace has been declared. In Francis Barlow's illustrated edition of the fables (1687), Aphra Behn's verse summary tells the Eastern tale with this same conclusion, while the Latin prose summary follows Aesop's account. At a slightly earlier date, Jean de la Fontaine
had versified the Oriental story in his Fables (II.15, Le coq et le renard), but Behn was not following La Fontaine in this instance. His fox only explains that it is in a hurry to spread the good news as the reason for its departure.
There is a carving of "The Cock and the Cat" from the Bharhut
stupa, dating from 150 BCE, which is now displayed in the Indian Museum
in Calcutta. Aesop's fable can be found on household china in Europe, but it is not always clear whether the story of "Chanticleer and the Fox" is meant instead without the appearance of the dog as well. The dog occupies the foreground on an 18th Century ornamental desert dish from the Chelsea porcelain factory
, while in Marc Chagall
's 1952 series of etchings, which are of La Fontaine's fables, the dog is shown running in from the distance.
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
and appears as number 252 in the Perry Index
Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
. Although it has similarities with other fables where a predator flatters a bird, such as The Fox and the Crow
The Fox and the Crow (Aesop)
"The Fox and the Crow" is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 124 in the Perry Index. There are early Latin and Greek versions and the fable may even have been portrayed on an ancient Greek vase. The story is used as a warning against listening to flattery....
and Chanticleer and the Fox
Chanticleer and the Fox
The Nun's Priest's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by the Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle...
, in this one the cock is the victor rather than victim. There are also Eastern variants of this story.
Versions of the fable
In the Greek story, a cock and a dog go on a journey together. At night, the cock roosts in a tree while the dog curls up at its roots. When the cock crowed in the morning, it attracted a fox that made friendly overtures and tried to lure the bird down. The cock agrees, telling it to ask the porter to open the door so that it can come out. The fox stumbles on the sleeping dog and is killed.An ancient Indian variant of the fable appears in the Buddhist scriptures as the Kukuta-Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
. Here a predatory cat, having killed all the other fowls, tries to woo the cock down with a promise of marriage, but it is not to be deceived and denounces the cat for its former slaughter. In its journey westwards, the tale was eventually included in The Thousand and One Nights and was translated by Richard F. Burton as The Pleasant History of the Cock and the Fox. This version, enlarged by the fox's many flights of rhetoric, recounts how the beast tries to lure the cock down from a wall with the news that universal friendship has been declared between the hunters and the hunted. The cock refuses even to acknowledge the fox's fine words but finally announces that he is convinced for he can see greyhounds running towards them who must be messengers from the King of the Beasts. When the agitated fox starts to leave, the cock asks him the reason; the fox replies that he fears the dogs were not present when the peace was announced.
This version of the story was an influence on the fable's retelling in Europe. It is to be found early among the humorous stories of Poggio Bracciolini's Facetiae (1450), where the fleeing fox explains only that the dogs have not yet heard that peace has been declared. In Francis Barlow's illustrated edition of the fables (1687), Aphra Behn's verse summary tells the Eastern tale with this same conclusion, while the Latin prose summary follows Aesop's account. At a slightly earlier date, Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
had versified the Oriental story in his Fables (II.15, Le coq et le renard), but Behn was not following La Fontaine in this instance. His fox only explains that it is in a hurry to spread the good news as the reason for its departure.
There is a carving of "The Cock and the Cat" from the Bharhut
Bharhut
Bharhut or Barhut , is a location in Satna district in Madhya Pradesh, Central India, known for its famous Buddhist stupa. The Bharhut stupa may have been established by the Maurya king Asoka in the 3rd century BCE, but many works of art were apparently added during the Sunga period, with many...
stupa, dating from 150 BCE, which is now displayed in the Indian Museum
Indian Museum
The Indian Museum is the largest museum in India and has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings...
in Calcutta. Aesop's fable can be found on household china in Europe, but it is not always clear whether the story of "Chanticleer and the Fox" is meant instead without the appearance of the dog as well. The dog occupies the foreground on an 18th Century ornamental desert dish from the Chelsea porcelain factory
Chelsea porcelain factory
The Chelsea porcelain manufactory is the first important porcelain manufactory in England; its earliest soft-paste porcelain, aimed at the aristocratic market—cream jugs in the form of two seated goats—are dated 1745...
, while in Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
's 1952 series of etchings, which are of La Fontaine's fables, the dog is shown running in from the distance.