Chanticleer and the fox
A favourite from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is the story of Chanticleer, a cockerel famed for his voice, who dreams of an encounter with a strange and frightening beast. His wife Pertelote dismisses his fright but, the following day, Chanticleer meets a fox. Flattered into crowing, he stretches up, closes his eyes and is — of course — seized. The whole farmyard gives chase, prompting Chanticleer to advise the fox to tease his pursuers, so enabling the cockerel’s escape.
