At that point I will emerge from the bushes and ask you, ‘What’s in that bag?’ You’ll respond, ‘Only some blocks of wood.’  I won’t believe it and will instruct you, ‘Pick up an axe and swing it into the part that sticks out.’  You’ll then pick up the axe and hit the bear right in the head.  And that’ll be the end of him.”

The poor man thanked the fox for his advice and did as he was told.  Everything happened the way the fox said it would.  The bear was killed, and the poor man was free once more.

“Didn’t I tell you it would work?” asked the fox.  “Remember, it’s always better to use your brain than your brawn!  I’ll have to leave now, but I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up the nine hens and the rooster.  They better be fat, or else!  And you better be home, or you’ll be sorry!”

The poor man then threw the dead bear on his wagon and took it home.  He was very happy.  He ate a big supper, had a good sleep, and lost all his fears.  He had learned from the fox that “it’s always better to use your brain than your brawn.” The poor man was hardly out of his bed the next morning when the fox appeared.  He knocked on the poor man’s door and asked for the nine hens and the rooster.

“Just a minute, pal,” shouted the poor man through the door.  “I’ll have to get dressed first.”  He dressed himself quickly, but instead of opening the door, he stood in the middle of the room and began to bark like a hound.

Upon hearing this, the fox shouted, “Hey, you! What’s that I hear inside?  I hope it’s not a hound!” “But it is a hound!” hollered the poor man.  “There are really two of them.  They slept under my bed.  Only the devil knows how they got there.  Now they seem to have gotten your scent and want to rush out.  I can hardly keep them back.”

“Please hold them back until I can get away,” pleaded the fox.  “I don’t even care if you keep the hens and the rooster!” By the time the poor man opened the door the fox was nowhere in sight.  He roared with laughter. Unless he died in the meantime, he may still be laughing today.

Agnes Huszar Vardy, associate professor of comparative literature at Robert Morris College,  also teaches Hungarian language and culture at the University of Pittsburgh.Steven Bela Vardy, her husband is department chairman and professor of history at Duquesne University
and adjunct professor of East European history at the University of Pittsburgh.