A Tale of Two Foxes

By Gordon Bietz

            There once was a school in Fenton Forest.  In this school all of the inhabitants of the forest learned how to avoid the traps placed by hunters who lived in the big city some miles away.  Classes offered were Theories of Trap Placement, Trap Design, and Emergency Medicine (for those who were caught in traps).

            Two of the young students enrolled in the school were Freddy Fox and his cousin Sam.  These two were as different as day and night.  Freddy was truly concerned about being caught in a trap and paid close attention in class.  Sam was a carefree fox.  He attended class only because his parents said he had to.  Sam did want to get decent grades, though, so he tried to outguess the teacher about questions that might appear on the tests. He would quiz the teacher unmercifully about a test, asking about each detail.  He wanted to make sure he knew what to learn, and most of all, to be sure that he didn't waste time learning what he didn't have to learn.  He did fairly well, considering his lack of interest in the class.  He memorized the appropriate formulas, keeping them in mind just long enough to reproduce them on the test.

            Freddy, on the other hand, wanted to learn all he could about traps so he would not get caught.  He knew of careless foxes who had lost toes in these traps, and didn't want to lose his.  He studied his subjects very carefully.  He researched trap design in the library. He never asked the teacher what was going to be on a test—he was too interested in the subject to limit his study.

            Both Freddy and his cousin Sam graduated from school.  The teachers thought they both did well.  Wise Old Owl, the school president, did say that he thought Freddy would really make something of himself.

            Graduation night there were the typical parties and celebrations at the Nut Hut and other hot spots in the forest.  The two cousins thought that their school days were over.

            There was a tragedy, however that night.  Freddy is today a prosperous businessman in East Fenton Forest, running a den construction firm.  Sam, on the other hand, is decorating the shoulders of a lady in the big city.

Gordon Bietz writes from Collegedale, Tennessee, where he is a pastor.

Insight, November 3, 1984