It so happened that a fox tricked a wolf by saying, “Enter the place where the Jews live on Sabbath eve, help them to prepare what they need for dinner, and eat with them on the Sabbath.” When the wolf tried to enter, they chased him out with sticks. The angry wolf vowed to kill the fox.

The fox said, “They beat you because of your father, who once helped them to prepare their dinner and then ate the best parts.”

“I was beaten because of my father?”

“Yes! The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ (Ezekiel 18:2). But come with me, and I will show you a place where you can eat your fill.”

The fox led the wolf to a well with a beam across it and a rope tied to the beam.
A bucket was attached to each end of the rope. The fox climbed into the bucket at the top and was lowered down by his own weight, while the bucket at the bottom flew up.

The wolf asked, “Why did you climb into the bucket?”

The fox answered, “Down here there is meat and cheese for me to eat my fill,” and he showed the wolf the image of the moon in the water that, because of its round shape, looked like a cheese.

“And how am I to get down?” the wolf asked,

The fox replied, “Climb into the bucket.” The wolf climbed in and his weight caused the bucket to plunge down, while the bucket the fox was in flew up.

The wolf then asked, “And now how am I to get up?”

The fox answered, “The righteous is rescued from trouble, and the wicked takes his place” (Proverbs 11:8).

--RaSHI on the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 39a

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