This is my version of a public domain story: "The Fox and the Hyena" which is a Tswana story from Tom Brown's Among the Bantu Nomads. See the PDF of the original. I have followed the original word by word while also feeling free to make my own changes and additions. I'm honestly doubtful whether this story was actually told about a fox (although there is a tiny South African fox); I suspect it was told of a jackal, so I might change this to jackal later.
The Fox and the Hyena
"Come, my friend," Fox said to Hyena, "and I’ll show you where we can find food." Fox then led Hyena to a sheepfold where a farmer had penned his sheep for the night. They prowled around until they found a crack they could slip through, and thus they crept inside the sheepfold and began to devour the sheep.
As he ate, Fox occasionally returned to the crack, checking to make sure that his stomach had not gotten too fat. When his stomach was so full that he could barely slip through the crack, Fox stopped eating and crept back out through the crack, leaving Hyena behind.
Hyena, meanwhile, didn't stop eating. Hyena ate and ate and ate, killing and eating one sheep after another. Then, when it was near dawn, Hyena realized he should leave, but his stomach was too fat to fit through the crack.
When the farmer arrived, he found Hyena there, along with the remains of his flock. The farmer beat Hyena and beat him and beat him; Hyena barely escaped with his life.
When Hyena next saw his friend Fox, he shouted, "You traitor! You left me there alone to face the farmer."
Fox, however, pretended that he also had been beaten. "Look!" he said. "I'm still limping. The farmer beat me too! I'm so weak that I can barely walk. If you are truly my friend, you will carry me."
Feeling sorry for Fox, who did appear to be in worse shape than he was, Hyena knelt down so Fox could climb up on his back.
Then, as soon as Fox made himself comfortable, he started to sing, making fun of Hyena. "Oh look, oh look!" he shouted. "The dead one carries the living, the weak one carries the strong; I am Fox, who ate the sheep and made my escape!"
The Hyena reared up and threw Fox off his back. Then Fox ran, and Hyena ran after him, intent on getting his revenge.
Seeing an overhanging rock, Fox ran under the rock and reached up his paws. Hyena ran under the rock too.
"Help!" shouted Fox. "The rock is going to fall down and crush us. Lift up your paws, Hyena! Help me hold up the rock!"
So Hyena lifted his paws up against the rock, just as Fox had done.
"I know you want to punish me," said Fox, "and that's only fair. But we must hold up this rock together or else it will crush us both. You can beat me afterwards, but first we must somehow get out of this predicament."
"But what can we do?" yowled Hyena. "I don't want to be crushed by the rock."
"I've got an idea," said Fox. "I'll go find a strong pole that we can prop under the rock. You stay here, and I'll be back with a pole as quick as I can."
Fox then ran off, leaving Hyena all alone.
Shortly afterwards, the Baboons who lived there came and found Hyena.
"What are you doing here in our house?" they asked.
"I'm holding up the roof," said Hyena, "and my arms are so tired. Please come help me! Fox will be back soon, but I need your help!"
"You fool!" said the Baboons. "Nothing is falling down here. Go away and get out of our house before we beat you!"
Hyena carefully lowered his paws and saw that the rock was not falling after all. Then, with a yelp, he ran away as fast as he could because he didn't want the Baboons to beat him.
Now even more angry at Fox, Hyena picked up his trail and found Fox standing next to a beehive, holding a piece of honeycomb in his hand and staring at it intently.
"I've got you at last!" shouted Hyena. "And now you are doing to die because of all the wicked deeds you have done."
"No doubt, no doubt," said Fox. "I am very wicked and I do not expect to escape my punishment. But today is Sunday, you know, and the choir is singing in there, and I'm reading this book. Can you hear the choir? Come closer and listen."
Hyena approached the beehive and pressed his ear against it. "Oh yes!" Hyena said excitedly. "I can hear the choir singing! It's beautiful!"
"Yes, it is," said Fox. "And the words written here in this book are beautiful too."
Hyena stared at the honeycomb. "I've never seen a book before," he admitted.
"Oh," said Fox, "then you should certainly get a book of your own. Just reach inside there and pull out a book, and then you can read the beautiful words too. Today is a day for singing and for reading; you can always kill me tomorrow."
Hyena eagerly reached inside the beehive, but when he did so, the bees came flying out in a swarm and stung Hyena in the eyes.
Fox ran away, laughing.
Hyena never got his revenge.
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