A Wild Boar was engaged in whetting his tusks upon the trunk of a tree in the forest when a Fox came by and, seeing what he was at, said to him, “Why are you doing that, pray? The huntsmen are not out to-day, and there are no other dangers at hand that I can see.”

“True, my friend,” replied the Boar, “but the instant my life is in danger I shall need to use my tusks. There’ll be no time to sharpen them then.”