The Fox and the Beggar



During her youth, Aca was tending to her home with her younger sister, Allacinne, when a fox sneaked into the yard and stole their single remaining chicken from its coop. Aca, acting quickly, rushed out into the yard after it, and followed the fox through the woods. She managed to snatch her family’s dinner from the fox, but so focused was she on this mission that she tumbled over a steep rocky hill, and the fall caused such damage to her face that she lost her sight. But Aca, guided by her Father, made it up the hill and back through the forest. As she neared her family’s house, she was passed by a beggar. The beggar, who was so ugly that no one ever stopped for him, asked Aca if she might spare the chicken to him, so that he could sell its eggs and perhaps make a living. Aca, who could only hear the soft and sincere voice of the beggar, and could not see his misshapen face, gave the chicken to him. So moved was the beggar that he fell to his knees and kissed Aca’s feet.

Upon returning home, Aca was asked by her sister, “Why have you given our last hen to a beggar?”

“His voice was honest,” replied Aca, “and I could hear that he would not betray our trust.”

Indeed, this was true. For with the gift given to him by Aca, the beggar staved off starvation and grew stronger; he sold the eggs and grew richer. He built a farm, and fed the people of his village, and always thanked the kindly blind maiden who finally did him a kindness without regard to his face.