The Fox* and the Elf

Once upon a time, Etwas the Elf was running through the forests of grass, under the canopies of clover and around the stems of tall flowers when she passed under a fox, trotting along a lava field.  The fox spun around when Etwas leapt onto the fox' belly and shimmied along to yank a tuft of hair from the tail.  

Seeing nobody behind her, the fox wheeled again in the direction it had been previously pursuing, so Etwas gave the tail another yank.  This time, the wily vixen spun in a circle, chasing its tail until it could see the tiny elf on its tail.

"O ho, little Elf!" said the fox, who needed to keep running to make eye contact.

"Howdy, Miss Fox!" the Elf replied.

Still running, the fox thought of a trick to play.

"You know, Miss Elf, it is even more fun to yank my ears than my tail."

"Oh, boy!" said Etwas, who leapt up onto the fox' back and ran along her spine, up her neck and onto her head.  She pulled at the right ear and then the left.  "Not bad!" she agreed.

"And," yelped the fox.  "it is even more fun to yank my tongue!"

So the little elf bounded down onto the fox' snout and, using a piece of braided grass and her knife as an anchor rappelled down from the nostril to wait for the tongue to be exposed.  The clever fox knew she had her prey and closed her eyes in gladness as she quickly retracted her tongue and clamped her jaws shut.

She meant to swallow the elf whole but the elf hadn't let go of the rope which yanked and pulled the knife free leaving  cutting the grass rope in a puff of pollen.  The fox' sneeze came so hard that the elf flew through the air and tumbled onto the lave field, ending up against a rock in a clump of lupine.

"You're right," said the elf.  "That was the funnest jerk of all!"

And ever since then, the clever have been humbled by hayfever.

*Foxes are the oldest mammal in Iceland.