The Tale of the Hedgehog and the Fox

A wretched hedgehog in the mountains had hidden itself away beneath the thorns. It tucked its head into its collar, free of the world, wrapping itself in a cloak made of its own spines. There in the rocky ground it lay, parched, and from its extreme thirst it burned with fever. A hungry fox roamed between the mountain and the plain, searching about for something to eat. The animal ran everywhere with cunning, and suddenly it happened upon the hedgehog. With trickery it let its urine trickle over the hedgehog, so the little creature thought rain had come. The exhausted thing had lips gone dry from thirst, so it quickly poked its head out for the rain. The fox saw it move and was delighted; at once it made a meal of it and went on its way, free. By showing itself it threw its life to the wind. Through the habit of showing off, alas, alas! Showing off is not the work of a traveler on the path; the show-off knows nothing of true devotion's pain.