A fox was trotting past a farmyard early one morning when he heard a cock crowing. Upon investigation he found that the rooster was perched in a tall tree. It was far out of reach of anyone to have him for breakfast.
“Why, cousin cock,” the fox called up to the bird in the tall tree, “what a pleasure it is to see you! Won’t you come down and let me greet you properly?”
“I would love to,” replied the cock (who was no fool), “but, as you know, there are some animals who would like nothing better than to grab me and eat me.”
“Why, my dear cousin,” exclaimed the fox, “Haven’t you heard the news? All the animals have agreed to live in peace with one another.”
While the fox was speaking, the cock kept craning his neck as though he could see something very interesting in the distance. Naturally, the fox became curious.
“Cousin, what in the world do you see up there that is so interesting?”
“Oh, nothing much—just a pack of hounds headed in this direction and coming at a fast clip.” said the cock.
“Please excuse me,” said the fox nervously. “I just thought of something I had forgotten.”
“What’s the hurry?” asked the cock. “I was just coming down for a talk. But you just said about the wonderful peace plan?”
“Well,” replied the fox, as he started to run, “may be those hounds haven’t heard about it yet!”
Moral: The best liars often get caught in their own lies.