The fox went out on a chilly night . . .

The fox went out on a chilly night
And he prayed to the Lord to give him light
For he'd many miles to go that night
Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o,
For he'd many miles to go that night
Before he reached the town-o.

So went the folk song in one of Marash Girl's  children's favorite songs, one of their favorite books, a book illustrated by Peter Spier in 1961.

Why is Marash Girl writing about this now?

Because she was wakened early this morning by harsh calls from outside her open  bedroom window, calls that sounded somewhat like a crow -- bird calls, she thought, as she hunkered back down to sleep . . . birds wakened by the imminent rising of the sun.  But there was no sun, the sky was overcast, and it was 4 o'clock in the morning!  Did you hear that fox? Marash Boy mumbled from under the covers. The fox?  Oh, of course.  A fox.  Like the one that went out on the chilly night . . . He finally reached the town-o.  AND there are folks who keep chickens here in Newton Corner. Of course.

And Marash Girl went back to sleep as she wondered who she should be rooting for: the fox or the chicken.

Photo by Marash Girl

(From Wikipedia:  The Fox is a traditional folk song. It is also the subject of at least two picture books, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: an old song, illustrated by Peter Spier and Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, by Wendy Watson. According to the 2006 Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book by Richard Matteson, the earliest version of this song appears to have been a Middle English poem, dating from the 15th century, found in the British Museum.)