Fantastic Mr Fox is a book written by Roald Dahl in 1970. It was adapted into the film in 2009.
Plot[]
This story is about a fox named Mr Fox. In order to feed his family, Mr Fox steals chickens, ducks, and turkeys, each night from three mean and wealthy farmers: Boggis, Bunce,and Bean. Boggis and Bunce and Bean, One fat, one short, one lean. These horrible crooks, So different in looks, Were none the less equally mean.
The farmers are fed up with Mr Fox's theft and try to kill him. One night, the farmers wait outside Mr Fox's foxhole in an attempt to ambush him. When Mr Fox emerges from his home, the farmers fire at him. However, the farmers only succeed in blowing off Mr Fox's tail.[1]
Determined to catch him, the farmers use spades and shovels to dig their way into the foxes' home. However, Mr and Mrs Fox and their four children escape by digging a tunnel deeper into the ground. The farmers then use bulldozers in order to dig deeper into the ground, but to no avail.
The three men therefore decide to watch the entrance to the fox tunnel with shotguns at the ready, while the farmers' men patrol the area to make sure the foxes do not escape.
After three days of starving, Mr Fox comes up with a plan. He and his children dig a tunnel into Boggis' chicken house. There, they steal some chickens and depart without leaving any sign of their presence. They also raid Bunce's storehouse of ducks, geese and vegetables as well as Bean's underground cellar of cider.
Along the way, the foxes meet Badger and other digging animals who are also starving due to the farmers' siege of the hillside. Mr Fox, feeling responsible for the whole affair, invites the other animals to a feast made from the loot. At the feast, the animals decide to make an underground town where they will be safe, while discreetly obtaining food from the farmers.
Meanwhile, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean keep guard on the tunnel entrance in pouring rain, unaware that Mr Fox and his friends are stealing their food right under their noses. The book ends with the indication the three will be waiting forever.
In the book, local children sing the following verse (a limerick) to taunt the three farmers:
Boggis and Bunce and Bean One fat, one short, one lean These horrible crooks So different in looks Were nonetheless equally mean.[2]