The Listening Grove · Aesop's Fables
Fable 5: The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox
A Charlotte Mason fable lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Aesop's fable The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox about?Parent review
Aesop's Fable 5, The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox, is a tale about a trickster caught in his own trick. A Dog and a Rooster, the best of friends, set out to see the world. At nightfall the Rooster roosts in a hollow tree while the Dog sleeps inside it. At dawn the Rooster crows and wakes a hungry Fox, who hurries over with sweet, flattering words, inviting himself up for breakfast. The Rooster slyly tells him to ask the porter at the foot of the tree, and when the Fox goes to the door, the Dog springs out and seizes him.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last fable.
What happened in Aesop's fable The Frogs and the Ox?Have a look
In the last fable, The Frogs and the Ox, a great Ox crushed one of the little frogs by the pool. When the old Mother Frog heard the beast was huge, she puffed herself up again and again to match his size, until at last she puffed too far and burst.
Back to the previous lesson: The Frogs and the Ox →The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox, the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition.
Read by Kindred Thicket, from the Kindred Thicket Revised Edition.
Read along with the fableRead along
A Dog and a Rooster, who were the best of friends, wished very much to see something of the world. So they decided to leave the farmyard and to set out into the world along the road that led to the woods. The two comrades traveled along in the very best of spirits and without meeting any adventure to speak of.
At nightfall the Rooster, looking for a place to roost, as was his custom, spied nearby a hollow tree that he thought would do very nicely for a night's lodging. The Dog could creep inside and the Rooster would fly up on one of the branches. So said, so done, and both slept very comfortably.
With the first glimmer of dawn the Rooster awoke. For the moment he forgot just where he was. He thought he was still in the farmyard where it had been his duty to arouse the household at daybreak. So standing on tip-toes he flapped his wings and crowed lustily. But instead of awakening the farmer, he awakened a Fox not far off in the wood. The Fox immediately had rosy visions of a very delicious breakfast. Hurrying to the tree where the Rooster was roosting, he said very politely:
"A hearty welcome to our woods, honored sir. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see you here. I am quite sure we shall become the closest of friends."
"I feel highly flattered, kind sir," replied the Rooster slyly. "If you will please go around to the door of my house at the foot of the tree, my porter will let you in."
The hungry but unsuspecting Fox, went around the tree as he was told, and in a twinkling the Dog had seized him.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the character cards* to remember who is in the fable. Choose one way to narrate.
*Character cards are free with the email list; the Composition Prompt and Drawn Narration Sheet are in the Companion Guide.
What is the list of the names, people, characters, and places that are important in Aesop's fable The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox?The Dog, The Rooster, The Fox, The road to the woodsHave a look
- The Dog: The Rooster's faithful friend, who sleeps inside the hollow tree and seizes the Fox at the door.
- The Rooster: Roosts in the tree, and slyly sends the flattering Fox to the 'porter' at its foot.
- The Fox: A hungry fox who tries to flatter the Rooster down for breakfast and is caught in his own trick.
- The road to the woods: The place the fable happens: the woods where the two friends lodge in a hollow tree for the night.
What is the moral of Aesop's fable The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox?Have a look
“Those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin.”
The Fox came hoping to trick the Rooster into an easy breakfast, but the Rooster sent him to the 'porter' at the foot of the tree, and the waiting Dog paid the trickster back in his own coin.
The Dog, the Rooster, and the Fox Q & A
Common questions about this fable: the other titles it goes by, where it comes from, its lesson, and how to help your child narrate it.
My book calls this "The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox." Is it the same story, and why does yours say "Rooster"?
It is the same fable. You will see it as "The Cock, the Dog, and the Fox," "The Dog and the Cock," or "The Cock and the Fox." Kindred Thicket calls the bird a Rooster rather than a Cock, an update we make so the text reads plainly and kindly for young children, while the story itself is untouched. Look for the dog and the rooster who travel together, and the fox who is outwitted at the foot of a hollow tree.
Where does this fable come from, and where else will my child meet it?
It is from the Greek Aesop tradition, one of many fables in which a trickster fox is out-tricked. That pattern, the deceiver caught in his own trap, runs through folklore the world over, so your child will recognize it long after she has forgotten she first met it here.
What is the lesson, and do I need to explain it?
The fox sets out to deceive the rooster and is handed to the dog instead, so the fable teaches, in the old words, that those who try to deceive may expect to be paid in their own coin. The rooster's clever answer makes the lesson land on its own. Let it.
How do I help my child narrate this one?
Read it, then ask her to tell it back. If she stalls: "Where did the rooster send the fox, and who was waiting there?" The trick at the end is fun to retell. A drawing of the fox creeping toward the tree while the dog waits inside makes a fine narration, and the free character cards give her the dog, the rooster, and the fox to move through the story.