Once upon a time, a very clever but very careless fox named Felix was trotting through the forest, looking for adventure. He was busy watching a beautiful butterfly hovering in the air, and he was not watching where his paws were going at all.

Whoops! Slip… WHOOSH!

With a loud splash, Felix tumbled straight down into an old stone well.

Luckily, the water at the bottom was not deep, and Felix was not hurt. But when he looked up, he realised he had a serious problem. The walls of the well were steep, and wet, and horribly slippery. However high he jumped, however hard he scrabbled at the stones, he simply slid straight back down into the puddle at the bottom.

Felix was trapped. He sat in the cold water for a very long time, his tail going soggy, wondering how on earth he was going to get out.

A Thirsty Visitor

Hours passed, and the sun climbed and beat down hot on the forest.

Then a shaggy goat with a long and magnificent beard came wandering by. He had been walking in the heat all day, and he was terribly thirsty.

He leaned his head over the edge of the well and peered down. Through the shadows he could just make out Felix, sitting in the water. Now, the goat was not very bright, and he assumed the fox had climbed down there on purpose for a nice refreshing drink.

“Hey, down there, Fox!” the goat called, and his voice went booming round the stones. “Is that water any good?”

Felix’s ears pricked up. His clever brain began working at lightning speed. He looked at the goat’s long legs, and his strong back, and his fine pointed horns — and a sneaky plan arrived in his head all at once.

“Good?” Felix replied, making his voice as cheerful and delighted as he possibly could. “My friend, this is the finest water in the whole country! Cool, and sweet, and absolutely delicious. Jump in and try it. There’s plenty of room down here for the two of us.”

The Big Jump

The thirsty goat did not stop to think for a single second. He did not look about for a bucket. He did not check how deep the hole was. He simply shut his eyes and jumped straight in.

SPLASH!

Water flew everywhere. The goat put his head down at once and began gulping it up, delighted to have found a drink at last.

But while the goat was busy drinking, Felix moved like a flash of red lightning. Up he scrambled, right onto the goat’s shaggy back. He rose onto his tiptoes. Then, using the tips of those long sturdy horns like the rungs of a ladder, he gave one mighty leap.

BOING!

Felix flew straight out of the top of the well and landed neatly on the green grass above. He shook the water off his fur. He was completely free.

Left Behind

Down in the well, the goat finished his drink at last and looked up. There was Felix, standing at the rim, gazing down at him.

And all at once the goat understood exactly what a terrible mess he had got himself into. He could not climb those slippery walls either.

“Oh dear,” he bleated, his voice trembling. “Mr Fox, please! Help me out of here, the way I helped you!”

But Felix had already turned his nose towards the warm, sunny woods. He had no intention whatever of staying behind to help.

“If you had as much sense in your head as you have hairs in your beard, old fellow,” Felix called back over his shoulder, with a sly grin, “you would have been a good deal more careful to work out how to get out before you ever decided to jump in.”

And with a flick of his bushy tail, the fox vanished into the trees, leaving the foolish goat to wait for the farmer to come and find him.

The Moral of the Story: Look before you leap. Never rush into a plan without thinking about what comes next. Always be sure you know how to get out of trouble before you step into it.