A dispute arose among a number of animals, namely the wolf, the fox, the cat, and the hare. Unable to settle matters by themselves, they summoned Martin to act as judge.
Martin asked the disputants, "What are you quarrelling about?"
"We are arguing about the question as to how many ways each of us has to save his life in time of danger," they answered.
Martin first asked the wolf, "Now, how many ways do you have to escape?"
"A hundred," was the answer.
"And you?" he asked the fox.
"A thousand," he answered.
Then Martin asked the hare, "How many do you know?"
"I have only my fast legs," was the answer.
Finally Martin asked the cat, "How many ways to escape do you know?"
"Only one," answered the cat.
Then Martin decided to put them all to the test in order to see how each one would save himself in time of danger. He suddenly threw himself at the wolf and crushed him half to death. Seeing what had happened to the wolf, the fox started to run away, but Martin grabbed him by the tip of his tail, and even to this day the fox has a white spot on his tail. The hare, with his fast legs, escaped by running away.
The cat climbed a tree, and from his high perch sang down, "The one who knows a hundred ways was captured; the one who knows a thousand ways was injured; Longlegs must run on forever; and the one who has only one way to escape sits high in a tree and holds his own."
So it is.