Summary

In Chapter 1, The Three Farmers, the three men who farm down in the valley have become rich, and very mean. Farmer Boggins is a very fat chicken farmer who keeps thousands of chickens. Farmer Bunce is a very short, pot-bellied duck and goose farmer, who keeps thousands of ducks and geese. His favorite food is doughnuts-and-goose-liver-paste. Farmer Bean is tall, thin, and clever, and keeps thousands of turkeys and apple trees. Bean turns his apples into cider, which is all he ever drinks. The local children make up rhymes about how mean the farmers are.

In Chapter 2, Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox live in a hole under a tree in a wood on top of a hill overlooking the valley. They have four Small Fox children. Each night, Mr. Fox travels to one of the three farms below to steal food. He...