Whether the fox would have eaten the rabbit if the rabbit had asked him not to would depend entirely on whether or not the fox was fluent in Rabbitese. And if he gave a f***.

Wait… is this a highly extended sexual metaphor? Are you the rabbit or the fox? And is getting eaten a bad thing or not in this context?

you got mugged again?

Maybe the rabbit could have threatened to eat the fox.

The rabbit could point out that he is really a brother fox. He only looks like a rabbit because of what he said which sounded sort of rabbit-like. However, now he’s had a chance to explain what he really meant, the fox can see that he is indeed a brother fox.
The moral of the story is to act before you get eaten; which I think you already grasped that point. P.S. Of course, this strategy only works with foxes who are indeed foxes, and not bulldogs in disguise. P.P.S. Lady foxes are more tricky. There are no rules for dealing with tricky lady foxes.

Asking a fox not to eat you won’t work, as foxes eat rabbits.

The only thing that the rabbit could do in this situation is deter the fox from eating it, by covering itself in spikes (pointing outwards). Alternatively, it could jump into the river and take its chances. It should certainly recognise that the situation with the fox is a no-win one.

Modify this to suit your circumstances as the metaphor allows.

Asking a fox not to eat you won’t work, as foxes eat rabbits.

I think that’s the point of the fable, Pete. Although Adrian, you really shouldn’t have teletyped the point of the fable. Fables should, by their nature, be open to interpretation.

I prefer the frog + scorpion/woman + snake fable myself.

I gather fable on the xbox is quite good too but I don’t have an xbox so I wouldn’t know.

Surely the answer is that each situation has to be judged on its own merits?

In this case, we’re talking about rabbits and foxes. Foxes eat rabbits. They don’t listen to reasoned debate on the subject. The rabbit should (and would) have legged it.

If you were sitting next to someone on a train, and if you were a person who had a phobia about people yawning, then you should NOT turn to the passenger next to you and say “Please don’t yawn, because I have a phobia.” They won’t be able to help themself.

But if you were sitting next to someone on a train and they got a packet of fags out and you don’t like passive smoking, you SHOULD say to them, “Please don’t smoke.”

There is no blanket answer.

I always liked that fable that went: “When a fox is chasing a rabbit, he’s running for his dinner. The rabbit is running for his life.”

Foxes are not vegetarians : rabbits are. As this is a fable it might be expected that a talking rabbit might not be a vegetarian so it could eat the fox. Some questions are better left unasked : as a wise old donkey once told me, it’s experience that teaches you when not to ask the question.