One day, a fox caught a rabbit, and was about to enjoy a hearty meal when a brown bear approached from behind. With ill intentions, the bear said to the fox, “This rabbit looks delicious! Could you give it to me?” The fox was reluctant to give up his rabbit, but the bear was tall and strong, and the fox knew that if he fought the bear, he would surely lose.

So, the fox told the big brown bear, “I’d be delighted to give it to you! However, in this forest, there is a mightier bear than you, who forbids me from doing so. He even threatened to eat me if I didn’t catch a rabbit for him to eat every day!” The bear was furious and exclaimed, “Darn it! How dare there be a mightier bear than I! Bring me to him now, so I can challenge him.”

The fox  took the bear to a lake. Then, he pointed at the water and said, “See for yourself! The mighty bear is there.” The bear looked upon the lake, and saw that there was indeed a tall and mighty bear. Fuming, the bear shouted, “Who are you? How dare you show off here!” But the bear in the lake did not reply. This made the bear even angrier.

The fox said, “Big brother bear, don’t get angry. Let me offer the rabbit to him instead!” “No!” roared the bear, “I must show him how strong I am!” and so, with a splash,  the bear jumped into the lake. “Help! Help me!” The poor bear drowned in the lake, before he could find the other bear. He did not realize that the bear he saw was merely his own reflection upon the water’s surface. Seeing this, the cunning fox left happily with the rabbit.

有一天，狐狸抓到了一隻兔子，正想飽餐一頓時，身後來了一隻灰熊，不懷好意地對狐狸說：「這隻兔子，看起來好好吃喔，可以讓給我嗎？」狐狸心裡十分不願意，但是看到這隻灰熊，又高又壯，如果和牠發生衝突，絕對不會有好下場。

狐狸就對大灰熊說：「我是很樂意讓給你啦！但是這座森林裡，有一隻比你還要高大的灰熊，不允許我這麼做，還威脅我如果沒有每天抓一隻兔子獻給牠，就要把我吃掉！」灰熊生氣地說：「可惡！居然還有比我高大的灰熊存在。你現在帶我去見牠，我要和牠較量較量。」

狐狸就帶著灰熊來到湖邊。狐狸指著湖面說：「你看！那隻高大的灰熊就在那裡。」灰熊向湖面一望，果然有一隻高大的灰熊，於是很生氣地說：「你是誰？竟然敢在這裡耀武揚威！」但是對方沒有回答，於是灰熊就更加生氣。

這時狐狸說：「灰熊大哥，你就別動怒了，就讓我把兔子獻給牠吧！」灰熊說：「不行！一定要讓牠知道我的厲害。」於是「撲通」一聲，灰熊就跳進湖裡。「哇！救命啊！」可憐的灰熊還沒有找到對手，就淹死在湖裡。牠還不知道，那隻高大的灰熊，只是牠自己在水裡的影子罷了。這時，只見狐狸高興地叼著兔子離開了。