Bowser the Hound . Can you imagine Reddy Fox with a chicken dinner right before him and not touching it ? Well , that is just what happened in Farmer Brown 's henhouse . It was n't because Reddy had no appetite . He was hungry , very hungry . He always is in winter . Then it does n't often happen that he gets enough to eat at one meal to really fill his stomach . Yet here he was with a chicken dinner right before him , and he did n't touch it . You see it was this way : Reddy 's wits were working very fast there in Farmer Brown 's henhouse . He knew that he had only a forlorn chance of escaping when Farmer Brown 's boy should come to open the henhouse in the morning . He knew that he must make the most of that forlorn chance . He knew that freedom is a thousand times better than a full stomach . On one of the lower roosts sat a fat hen . She was within easy jumping distance . Reddy knew that with one quick spring she would be his . If the henyard gate had been open , he would have wasted no time in making that one quick spring . But the henyard gate , as you know , was closed fast . `` I 'm awfully hungry , '' muttered Reddy to himself , `` but if I should catch and eat that fat hen , Farmer Brown 's boy would be sure to notice the feathers on the floor the very minute he opened the door . It wo n't do , Reddy ; it wo n't do . You ca n't afford to have the least little thing seem wrong in this henhouse .
What you have got to do is to swallow your appetite and keep quiet in the darkest corner you can find , '' So Reddy XXXXX spent the rest of the night curled up in the darkest corner , partly behind a box .
Bowser Brown Fox Reddy henhouse henyard minute morning right roosts