The fox feared the leopard. The big cat had never caused him harm--nor had he ever been hungry when the fox met him. The fox knew it was just a matter of time before the leopard devoured him, so he felt justified in moving in a preemptive fashion.

He went to the leopard (after having observed him eat a big meal), and told him of a beautiful place, with gardens filled with lilies and does. The leopard demanded that the fox show him this spot, which proved to be just as lovely as promised.

"I would like to live here," the leopard said, and secretly the fox rejoiced. "But first I shall consult with my wife."

This filled the fox with fear, for the leopard's wife was known for her wisdom. "You would do well to do the opposite of whatever she advises, for the counsel of a woman is never anything but foolish and evil."

But the leopard went to his wife, and she all but called him a fool. "The fox is a cunning creature not to be trusted. Have you not heard how he killed the lion?"

"How is that possible?" the leopard demanded. "The fox is such a small animal."

"This is how it came about," his wife replied. "And I urge you to listen to my words."

The Fox and the Lion

The lion counted the fox a friend, but the fox did not have confidence that his good will would last, so he thought long and hard about how he might kill the lion.

One day the fox went to the lion, complaining of a pain in his head. "Tie all my paws together, please," the fox said. "I have heard that such binding cures headaches in an instant."

The lion did so, and after a few moments the fox exclaimed in a relieved tone: "The pain is gone!" The lion untied him, and received many thanks.

Some weeks later, the lion suffered from a headache, and went to his friend. "Please bind me as I bound you when you had a headache," the lion asked. "I hope the cure will work for me as well."

"Certainly, my friend," the fox replied. And after he had tied up the lion, he found a large stone and crushed his head.

"Now do you see why I say you should not trust the fox?" the leopard's wife demanded. "If this place is so beautiful, why does he offer it to anyone else?"

"Why should he wish me ill? I have never done him any harm." But still, the leopard had misgivings, and told the fox about them.

The fox shook his head. "You should not listen to the advice of women. If you don't believe me, then learn from the misfortunes of other men I shall tell you about."

The Silversmith of Babylon

A silversmith of Babylon had a wife who wished to improve their status. She knew the daughter of the king, and one day went to her husband with a suggestion.

"Make a silver statue of this girl," the silversmith's wife asked him. "I will give it to her as a gift; she will be delighted, and tell her father about the quality of your work. We will become famous and rich."

The silversmith made the statue, and indeed the king's daughter loved the beautiful object. In thanks, she gave a fine cloak and earrings to the silversmith's wife.

"Those are worth less than the statue," the silversmith said, disappointed. "When will I become famous? And where are the riches?"

The next day, the king saw the statue, and he raged. "Did I not decree that no one should make an image? Find the smith, and cut off his right hand."

This was done, and the maimed silversmith wept. And this is the fate of men who listen to the advice of their wives.

The Woodcutter of Damascus

In Damascus there lived a woodcutter. While he worked, his wife would sit near him spinning.

"My father used both hands when cutting wood," she said one day. (And this was not, you may be sure, the first time that she had unfavorably compared her husband to her father.) "When his right grew tired, he used his left, and so cut more wood."

"That is ridiculous," the woodcutter said. "No man uses both hands."

But his wife continued to urge him to chop left-handed, so eventually he tried to do so, and chopped off the thumb on his right hand. Then, without a word, he struck and killed his wife with the axe. Before too much time had passed, he was caught and stoned for the crime.

The Loyal Husband

A king of the Arabs listened one day as his counselors praised the wisdom, form and disposition of women. "You are all fools," the king said. "Never in the history of creation has there been a good woman." The counselors protested, and the king held up his hand. "Very well. Go out into the city, then, and find me this good woman."

The counselors went out, and reported to the king about the wife of a wealthy merchant. She was chaste, wise, and fair. The king ordered her husband brought before him.

"I have a daughter," the king said. "I do not wish to see her married to some pampered prince. I will give her to a simple man who will appreciate her value and love her. You are such a man, but first you must kill your wife so that you may remarry."

"I am not worthy of such a gift," the merchant protested, but the king would hear none of it. "How can I kill my wife? She has been my loyal companion for fifteen years. She is the mother of my children."

"Kill her, and you will be king after me. Steel yourself for that one moment, and enjoy the rewards for the rest of your life."

Distraught, the merchant returned home. When he looked upon his wife and children, he could not bear the thought of killing his wife. "She is worth more than any kingdom," he declared.

When it became clear that the merchant did not intend to slay his wife, the king called her before him. He praised her virtues, using the same words his counselors had used a few days before. "I love you, and would make you my wife, but first you must kill your husband."

The woman agreed, as the king had suspected, so he gave her a tin sword. "Strike your husband once only; that will be enough."

That night, she lay awake while her husband slept beside her. She took out the sword and struck his head, but the tin bent and caused no damage. Her husband woke up, confused, and she told him he had woken from a nightmare and sang him back to sleep.

The next day, she appeared again before the king, and told what had happened. Then the king assembled his counselors, and ordered her to repeat the story, and then he called her husband to tell his tale. "And perhaps now," the king said to his counselors, "you will cease praising women."

The Roman Widow

In Rome, the king had decreed that the bodies of hanged men were to be denied burial for ten days. A man was set to watch the body of a criminal, so that friends and relatives would not steal it. If the body was taken, then the officer of the guard was hanged in its place.

One night, as he stood watch over the body of a rebel, an officer heard a shriek. He hurried to the source of the sound, and found a woman crying over the fresh grave of her husband. The officer comforted her and sent her home.

The next night, she returned, and this time they spoke at length, and a love grew between them. The dead husband, whom the widow had cried for, was quickly forgotten. As they neared the tree where the rebel had been hanged, the officer saw that the body was gone.

"I must flee," the officer said, "or my life is forfeit."

"Do not fear," the woman said. "We can raise my husband from the grave, and hang him in place of the man you were set to watch."

Horrified, the officer demanded: "How could I do such a thing?"

"I shall dig him out," the woman said. "If disturbing the grave of a dead man will save a living one, then I think it must be lawful."

But, when he saw the corpse she dragged from the earth, the officer despaired. "The hanged man was bald, and your husband has thick hair. Anyone can see they are not the same man."

"If he must be bald, then he shall be bald," said the woman, and tore out her husband's hair.

The substitution worked, and the woman's husband had barely been reburied as a traitor when the officer and the widow were married.

The leopard returned home. "Come with me without a word," he said to his wife, "or I swear I will kill you."

The leopard's wife had no choice, and she and the children followed the leopard and the fox to the beautiful place by the waters. The fox wished them much happiness in their new home, and left them.

But a few nights later, the rains came and the water rose up, flooding the home of the leopards. "I should have listened to my wife," the leopard lamented, as he and his family drowned.

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