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Master Reynard
The History of a Fox
From Animal Autobiographies by J. C. Tregarthen
REVISED BY
JANE FIELDING
NEW YORK
A. L. CHATTERTON CO.
Copyright, 1913
A. L. CHATTERTON CO.
MASTER REYNARD
The earth where I was born was far down the face of a steep cliffand opened on a sloping shelf of turf, from the edge of which theundercliff fell sheer to the sea. The entrance we used most wasslightly above the level of the springy sward and led by a smalltunnel to a roomy chamber where daylight never penetrated.
There on the bare dry ground the vixen laid us—my two sisters and me.If I was like the baby cubs I have since seen, I was born blind, mymuzzle was blunt and rounded, and my coat as black as a crow, the onlywhite about me being a few hairs in the tag of my tiny brush. Even atthe time when I first remember what I was like my fur was still a verydark color and bore no resemblance to the russet hue of a full-grownfox.
This was a few weeks after my eyes were opened, when, after awakingfrom our first sleep, we were in the habit of sunning ourselves just[Pg 10]inside the mouth of the earth. It was there, with my muzzle resting onthe vixen's flank, that I got my earliest glimpse of the world. Theturf was then almost hidden by pink flowers, over the heads of whichI could see, between two of the pinnacles that bordered the ledge,the sea breaking on a reef where the cormorants used to gather at lowwater and stand with folded or outstretched wings until the risingtide drove them to the big white rock beyond.
So few things moved within our field of vision that every creature wesaw afforded us the keenest interest. Sometimes during days togethernothing stirred but the stems of the thrift and the surf about thereef, for the sky was cloudless when the hot weather set in. Now andagain a red-legged crow came and perched on one of the pinnacles,crying "Daw, daw!" until its mate joined it, and then, all too soon,they took wing and flew away; at times a hawk or a peregrine wouldglide by and break the monotony of our life.
Our narrow green was dotted by five boulders, and one of these wecould see from the earth. On this our most frequent visitor alighted.It was an old raven, who presently dropped to the[Pg 11] ground, walked upto the remains of any fowl or rabbit lying near the heap of sandy soilwhich my mother had scratched out when making the earth, and pecked,pecked, pecked, until only the bones were left. Then, uttering hiscurious "Cawpse, cawpse!" he would hop along the ground, flap hisbig black wings, and pass out of sight. I feel sure that he saw uswatching him, for his eyes often turned our way.
One afternoon, to our astonishment, a half-grown rabbit came loppingalong, and stopped to nibble the turf at a spot barely a good springfrom the vixen. She, usually very drowsy, half opened her eyes andturned