The Pheasant and the Fox

By Troy Morash

As a rule, in every little wood there is always one bird that has all the love and admiration of the other animals. In one little clearing there was once just such a pheasant and had gathered around him, were his small and humble crowd of admirers.

Generally pheasants find it easy to be loved. They have a natural ability to fill the village's most important position of being the most loved. They are actually trained in how to be loved and accept the love of others. They had long ago been brought up expecting to be loved.

In this village the pheasant was fat and loved to eat so much that he just never had the time to exercise. He complained about this. 'I must sacrifice my wonderful figure to attend all the parties you throw. If I didn't, who would entertain you? Alas, it is my burden.' He loved to talk about himself. 'I'm the best. I am the only one here everyone wants as a friend. I'm the one that all the humans love to hunt for!' All the animals agreed that he was the best and they all murmured that they wouldn't want to be him and how hard it must be to be the best. The fat pheasant shook his head in agreement and sighed, 'I'm the best! I'm the pride of the whole town, the symbol, the figurehead, and the crowning glory. Would any of you not try to save me if I were in danger? Yes you would, wouldn't you?'

Everyone agreed. He was a pretty bird, with a jolly nature, and everyone said they would try to save him if he were in danger. In fact they all signed a legal binding contract that stated in effect that they would protect the fat pheasant with their very own lives. 'I must admit that that was a rather silly question, for what would you do without me. Your lives would be dull, empty and pointless. It's unfortunate that I don't really need any of you, but you, all of you need me; indeed you can't live without me.' Everyone agreed and cheered.

All of a sudden a fox jumped into the middle of the town square where they were gathered, to catch some dinner, but all the animals scattered into hiding places or high up in the trees. And so the fox got nothing. The pheasant had flown off with the rest and waited until the fox left. Then they all returned to the town square.

'As I was saying,' the pheasant continued, 'why should I need to stay fit or sharpen my reflexes when I have all of you here to guard me?' All the animals agreed. Everyone vowed that if the pheasant were in any danger they would all rush to his rescue and if necessary fight to the death to protect him.

All of a sudden the fox jumped into the middle of the town square again growling and grunting. Fortunately all the animals scattered to safety. The pheasant took off and escaped with the rest and waited until the fox left, but this time he was very tired and doubted that he would get away again as the fox had very nearly eaten him to death this time.

When they returned to the town square the pheasant continued, wiping the sweat from his brow, 'So just to clarify, if the fox comes back again,' the pheasant gasped, 'I trust that all of you will rush to my rescue because I am the pride and joy of this little town, am I not?'

Everyone nodded and cheered in agreement. They all said they loved the pheasant and lined up to personally tell him so.

'Because I do not know whether or not I will be able to fly away to safety again, should the fox return,' the fat pheasant gasped. But everyone assured the pheasant that he was safe with them. They made plans of defense and attack and showed the pheasant everything that they had planned. This satisfied him.

Then all of a sudden the fox jumped into the middle of the town square again and all the animals scattered to safety, but the pheasant was much too tired to get off the ground this time and so the fox chewed him up, spitting out all the yucky parts, because things that look nice don't always taste good. The rest of the animals were too scared to help. They looked at one another as if hoping that one of them would lead a charge, but not one of them was brave enough. And so they all watched as the poor pheasant was eaten to death by the fox. After the fox had eaten his dinner he stayed in the town square for a while cleaning his paws and licking his chops. The animals were too scared to cry or speak or even breathe. They finally returned to the square only after the fox had been gone for three days. They stood around the poor pheasant's chewed up bones and bowed their heads in silence out of respect for their dead friend. Finally one amongst them spoke, 'I suppose we learned something about ourselves today.'

'Yes,' another agreed, 'that is the important thing to remember in a tragedy like this.' And just so they wouldn't forget, they hired me to write it all down.