The Fox and the Tiger

By Daniel Kelly - 2022
 
(based on the Chinese idiom, Fox faking the Tiger's Power)

G                               C          G
A fox took a stroll through the forest one day,
C       G       Am            D
He hummed a tune as trotted on his way,
C          G          Am              G
The air was crisp, and the sky was clear,
         Em               D          G
When a grumbling sound it reached his ear.

A tiger leaped from behind a tree,
And circled the fox, with a hungry sort of glee,
You look so tasty, fox so small,
I’ll eat you up with no trouble at all,

The fox said, stop just a second you,
I’m king of this forest, I thought everybody knew,
You’d be wise to bow and leave me be,
Or bad things will happen just wait and see.

A likely story, laughed the cat,
You’re just a fox, I can clearly see that,
I’ve eaten, rats and pigs and ducks,
Anything that squeaks, oinks, slithers or clucks.

If that be true, said the fox so sneaky,
Come for a walk, and we’ll see who’s being cheeky,
So the fox walked on and the tiger followed,
Till they came to the mud were pigs all wallowed.

Hello said the Fox, to the largest pig,
But he quaked and shivered, when he saw the tiger big,
The tiger stopped, and scratched his head,
Strange that a fox should cause such dread.

The fox walked on to monkey’s tree,
He knocked on the trunk, Come down and talk to me,
When the monkey spied the stripes and claws,
He squealed and scurried from the tigers jaws.

By now the tiger was quite confused,
The fox strikes fear into everyone he mused
But come said fox, I have treat,
There’s another good friend that you should meet.

The rabbit sat by his rabbit hole,
The fox said “Hi’, but down he quickly stole,
The tiger started to chew his tail,
This fox scares all the creatures on the trail.

So the fox escaped the tiger’s tummy,
When tiger ran, home to see his mummy,
So remember things aren’t as they seem,
And the strong can be scared by a little scheme.