The Fox Without a Tail
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A fox who loses his tail in a trap tries to talk every other fox into cutting off theirs too — but one of them isn't fooled.
A fox once fell into a trap, and after a struggle managed to get free, but with the loss of his brush. He was then so much ashamed of his appearance that he thought life was not worth living unless he could persuade the other Foxes to part with their tails also, and thus divert attention from his own loss. So he called a meeting of all the Foxes, and advised them to cut off their tails: "They're ugly things anyhow," he said, "and besides they're heavy, and it's tiresome to be always carrying them about with you."
Certa vez, uma raposa caiu numa armadilha e, após muito se debater, conseguiu se libertar, mas perdeu o rabo. Ficou tão envergonhada de sua aparência que achou que a vida não valia mais a pena viver, a menos que conseguisse convencer as outras Raposas a também se desfazerem de seus rabos, desviando assim a atenção de sua própria perda. Então convocou uma reunião de todas as Raposas e aconselhou que cortassem os rabos: "São coisas feias, de qualquer forma", disse ela, "e além disso são pesados, e é cansativo ficar sempre carregando-os por aí."
But one of the other Foxes said, "My friend, if you hadn't lost your own tail, you wouldn't be so keen on getting us to cut off ours."
Mas uma das outras Raposas disse: "Minha amiga, se você não tivesse perdido o seu próprio rabo, não estaria tão interessada em nos convencer a cortar os nossos."
