| The Fox and the Cat | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:De_vulpe_et_cato.JPG) Heinrich Steinhöwel's 1476 illustration of the fable | |
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Fox and the Cat |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 105 |
| Country | Multiple |
| Published in | Panchatantra |
The Fox and the Cat is an ancient fable, with both Eastern and Western analogues involving different animals, that addresses the difference between resourceful expediency and a master stratagem. Included in collections of Aesop's fables since the start of printing in Europe, it is number 605 in the Perry Index. In the basic story a cat and a fox discuss how many tricks and dodges they have. The fox boasts that he has many; the cat confesses to having only one. When hunters arrive with their dogs, the cat climbs a tree, but the fox thinks of many ways without acting and is caught by the hounds. Many morals have been drawn from the fable's presentations through history and, as Isaiah Berlin's use of it in his essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox" shows, it continues to be interpreted anew.