The wolf was hungry, but he wasn't worried, because the fox knew where he could get a meal.

The fox led the wolf to a deep well that had two buckets dangling overhead. Without pausing,

the fox jumped into one of the buckets. His weight pulled it all the way down to the water,

where the full moon was reflected, all yellow and round. Then the fox pointed at the reflection,

saying, here is plenty of cheese, get into the other bucket, and come down at once.

The wolf, too hungry to think clearly, jumped into the second bucket.

His weight sent him crashing into the water, and conversely, the fox's bucket shot back to the surface.

Cackling, the fox hopped out and ran off into the night, leaving the wolf trapped

in the well without a single slice of cheese in sight. This particular story about the fox and

the wolf is a French Jewish parable from the Middle Ages, but that isn't the only time the theme

pops up in folklore. Cultures from all over the world have similar stories. In England, a farmer

finds a group of foolish villagers who think the moon fell into the well. In Tibet, a troop of

silly monkeys tries to draw the moon out of a well, but they just end up pulling each other in. And in

Turkey, a man tries to lasso the moon out of the well, but falls on his behind instead.

Likewise, the concept that the moon is made of cheese, or at the very least that the moon looks like it's made of cheese, isn't unique to our foxy friend either.

In the 16th century, for example, some European chroniclers used the phrase, the moon is made of green cheese to indicate that you could easily fool the foolish.

The message, though, is clear.

It's easy to trick someone who is already inclined to believe foolish things.

And those who easily give in to ignorance often find themselves in deep trouble,

or an even deeper well.

It seems you can't believe everything you hear, or else you'll end up like the wolf.

But while the moral lesson might contain some truth, it also lacks a bit of grace.

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