“This place I am hoping to get to is so marvelous that if I described it to you now you would go crazy with excitement. And then, if we failed to get there (which is very possible), you would die of disappointment. I don’t want to raise your hopes too much, my darlings.”
“Then Mrs. Fox got shyly to her feet and said, ‘I don’t want to make a speech. I just want to say one thing, and it is this: MY HUSBAND IS A FANTASTIC FOX.‘”
″‘My dear old furry frump,’ he said, ‘do you know anyone in the whole world who wouldn’t swipe a few chickens if his children were starving to death?‘”
“It was lovely to realize that while the fat farmer was sitting up there on the hill waiting for them to starve, he was also giving them their dinner without knowing it.”
“Mr. Fox had not spoken for a long time. He had been sitting quite still, his eyes closed, not even hearing what the others were saying. Mrs. Fox knew that he was trying desperately to think of a way out. And now, as she looked at him, she saw him stir himself and get slowly to his feet.”
“Mr. Fox looked at the four Small Foxes and he smiled. What fine children I have, he thought. They are starving to death and haven’t had a drink for three days, but they are still undefeated. I must not let them down.”
“But Mr. Fox was too clever for them. He always approached a farm with the wind blowing in his face, and this meant that if any man were lurking in the shadows ahead, the wind would carry the smell of that man to Mr. Fox’s nose from far away.”
″‘And it will soon grow again, Dad,’ said one of the Small Foxes. ‘It will never grow again,’ said Mr. Fox. ‘I shall be tail-less for the rest of my life.‘”
“I don’t like this trick, sir. My tongue isn’t quick quick or slick, sir. I get all those ticks and clocks, sir, mixed up with chicks and tocks, sir. I can’t do it, Mr. Fox, sir. ”
“When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle, THIS is what they call a ... a tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddle muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks, sir.”
“Try to say this, Mr. Knox, please . . .
Through three cheese trees
three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew,
freezy breezy blew.
Freezy breezy made
these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made
these trees’ cheese freeze.
That’s what made these
three free fleas sneeze. ”
“Doctor De Soto climbed up the ladder and bravely entered the fox’s mouth. ‘Ooo-wow!’ he gasped. The fox had a rotten bicuspid and unusually bad breath. ‘This tooth will have to come out,’ Doctor De Soto announced. ‘But we can make you a new one.’ “
“Despite his misery, he realized he had a tasty morsel in his mouth, and his jaw began to quiver. ‘Keep open!’ yelled Doctor De Soto. ‘Wide open!’ yelled his wife.”
“Doctor De Soto set the gold tooth in its socket and hooked it up to the teeth on both sides. The fox caressed the new tooth with his tongue. ‘My, it feels good,’ he thought. ‘I really shouldn’t eat them. On the other hand, how can I resist?’ “
“Doctor De Soto stepped into the foxes mouth with a bucket of secret formula and proceeded to paint each tooth. He hummed as he worked. Mrs. De Soto stood by on the ladder, pointing out spots he had missed. He fox looked very happy.”
“The fox was stunned. He stared at Doctor De Soto, then at his wife. They smiled and waited. All he could do was say, ‘Frank oo berry mush’ through his clenched teeth, and get up and leave. He tried to do so with dignity.”