The Lion, the Bear and the Fox is one of Aesop’s fables, the short animal stories first told in ancient Greece about 2,500 years ago. It’s about two big, strong animals who find something to eat at the same moment and can’t agree how to share it. While they argue, someone much smaller is watching from the bushes and waiting for the right moment.
In Aesop’s version the animals fight over a young deer. We’ve swapped that for a basket of picnic food that falls off a farmer’s cart, so the story stays funny and gentle for kids aged 5 to 12. It takes about ten minutes to read aloud. After the story you’ll find the moral, questions to talk about, a summary and a short FAQ.
Part 1: The Basket on the Forest Path
Once upon a time, deep in a green forest full of tall oaks and pine trees, a farmer was driving his wooden cart along a bumpy path. He was on his way to town, and in the back of the cart sat a big wicker basket packed with good things to eat: two crusty loaves of bread, a dozen shiny red apples and a huge round wheel of yellow cheese.
The cart hit a rock. BUMP! The basket bounced up, tipped over the side and landed softly in the grass. The farmer didn’t notice. He just kept whistling and rattled away down the path until he was out of sight.
For a moment, the forest was quiet.
Then, from the left side of the path, out stepped a lion. He was big and golden, with a shaggy mane that bounced when he walked. He had been hunting all morning and hadn’t caught a thing.
And at exactly the same moment, from the right side of the path, out stepped a bear. She was huge and brown and furry, and she had been looking for honey all morning and hadn’t found a drop.
The lion saw the basket. The bear saw the basket. And then they saw each other.
Part 2: “I Saw It First!”
“Well, hello,” said the lion, puffing out his chest. “What a nice surprise. Lunch, delivered right to my paws. Thank you for stopping by, Bear, but you can be on your way now. That basket is mine.”
“Yours?” said the bear, rising up on her back legs so she looked even bigger. “I don’t think so. I saw it first.”
“You did not,” said the lion. “I saw it first. I saw it while it was still on the cart.”
“Well, I smelled it first,” said the bear. “I smelled that cheese from half a mile away.”
“I’m the King of the Beasts,” said the lion. “Everybody knows the king gets the first pick.”
“You’re not my king,” said the bear. “I’m the strongest animal in this forest, and everybody knows that too.”
Now, if either of them had stopped to look, they would have seen there was plenty in that basket for both of them. Two loaves of bread. Twelve apples. A cheese as big as a wagon wheel. They could have each taken half and gone home with full bellies.
But neither of them wanted half. Each of them wanted all of it.
Part 3: The Great Big Squabble
So they started to squabble.
The lion grabbed one side of the basket with his paw. The bear grabbed the other side. They pulled and tugged, back and forth, like a game of tug-of-war that nobody was winning.
“Let go!” growled the lion.
“You let go!” grumbled the bear.
When pulling didn’t work, they let go of the basket and started pushing each other instead. The lion pushed the bear with his big golden head. The bear pushed the lion with her big brown shoulder. They wrestled and rolled across the clearing, flattening the ferns, scattering the leaves and scaring every bird out of every tree for a hundred yards around.
Neither of them wanted to give up. The lion was too proud. The bear was too stubborn.
Now, all this time, someone was watching.
Behind a clump of ferns at the edge of the clearing sat a slim red fox with a white tip on her tail. She had been trotting by when she heard all the growling and grumbling, and she had stopped to see what the fuss was about.
When she saw the basket, her nose twitched. When she saw the lion and the bear rolling around in the dirt, a sly little smile spread across her face.
“Hmm,” she said softly to herself. “I think I’ll just wait and see what happens.”
So she sat very still and very quiet, and she waited.
Part 4: Too Tired to Move
The lion and the bear wrestled all morning. They wrestled through lunchtime. They wrestled into the afternoon, while the sun moved slowly across the sky.
They pushed and shoved until their legs were shaky. They grumbled and growled until their voices were hoarse. They huffed and puffed until they had no huff or puff left at all.
And at last, both of them flopped down flat on their backs in the middle of the trampled grass.
The lion’s mane was full of leaves and twigs. The bear’s fur was covered in dust. Their tongues were hanging out, and their chests were going up and down, up and down, as they panted for breath.
“I can’t,” gasped the lion, “move a single paw.”
“Me neither,” wheezed the bear. “I’m too tired to even lift my head.”
And there, right between them, sat the basket, with the bread and the apples and the big round cheese, not one bite taken out of any of it.
Part 5: The Fox Makes Her Move
The fox had been waiting for exactly this moment.
She stood up, stretched her legs, shook out her tail and trotted out into the clearing, as calm and cool as you please.
She walked right past the lion’s nose. She walked right past the bear’s paw. She picked up the basket by its handle in her teeth.
“Good afternoon,” she said politely, with her mouth full of basket handle. “Thank you both so much for lunch.”
The lion opened one eye. The bear opened one eye. They both saw the fox. They both saw the basket.
“Hey,” croaked the lion. “Come back here.”
“Stop, thief,” mumbled the bear.
But neither of them could get up. They were much too tired.
So the fox trotted away down the forest path with her tail held high, swinging the basket as she went. By the time the sun was setting, she was home in her cozy den, sharing bread and cheese and apples with her three little fox kits, who thought it was the best supper they had ever had.
Part 6: What the Lion and the Bear Learned
The lion and the bear lay in the grass until the stars came out. Neither of them said anything for a long time.
At last the bear sighed. “Well,” she said. “That didn’t go the way I planned.”
“No,” said the lion. “We spent the whole day fighting over that basket, and the fox got it without lifting a claw.”
“If we’d just shared it,” said the bear, “we’d both have full tummies right now.”
The lion was quiet for a moment. Then he said something that lions almost never say.
“You’re right.”
The bear was so surprised she nearly fell over, even though she was already lying down.
The two of them got up slowly, brushed the leaves from their fur and went their separate ways, hungry and sore, but a little bit wiser than they had been that morning.
And if you ever walk through that forest, you might see a lion and a bear sharing a meal under the same oak tree. Every time they do, they keep one eye on the ferns, just in case a certain red fox is watching.
The End
Moral of the story: The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
When two people fight over something instead of sharing it, a third person often ends up with it. The lion and the bear were so busy arguing that they both lost the very thing they were fighting about. Sharing and talking things out works much better than quarreling.
What kids can learn from this fable
- Sharing means everyone gets something. Half a basket is a lot better than an empty one.
- Fighting wastes time and energy. The lion and the bear tired themselves out and got nothing.
- Pride and stubbornness get in the way. Neither animal wanted to be the first to give in.
- Saying “you’re right” can be brave. The lion finally admitted his mistake, and that’s how things got better.
Questions to talk about with your child
- Why didn’t the lion and the bear share the basket? Was there enough for both of them?
- Was the fox smart, sneaky or both? What do you think about what she did?
- Have you ever argued with a brother, sister or friend over a toy? What happened to the toy while you were arguing?
- What are some good ways to solve an argument about sharing?
Summary: The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
A basket of bread, apples and cheese falls off a farmer’s cart in the forest. A lion and a bear find it at the same moment, and each one says it belongs to them. Instead of sharing, they tug, push and wrestle all day until they are too tired to move. A fox who has been watching from the bushes trots over, picks up the basket and carries it home to her kits. The lion and the bear realize that if they had shared, they would both have had a good meal.
Read More: The Dog and His Reflection
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote The Lion, the Bear and the Fox?
It is one of Aesop’s fables. Aesop is believed to have been a storyteller in ancient Greece, and the fables credited to him were collected and retold by many writers over the centuries.
What do the lion and the bear fight over in the original fable?
In Aesop’s version, they fight over a young deer they both caught. This bedtime version changes it to a basket of picnic food so the story is gentler for young children. The lesson is exactly the same.
What is the moral of The Lion, the Bear and the Fox?
A common way to say it is “Those who do all the fighting don’t always get the prize.” In other words, when two sides quarrel, someone else may walk away with what they were fighting over.
Is this a good bedtime story?
Yes. It’s short, funny and has no scary parts. Younger kids like the lion and the bear flopping down exhausted, and older kids enjoy talking about whether the fox was clever or sneaky.
