A col-fox, ful of sly iniquitee,
That in the grove hadde woned yeres three,
By heigh ymaginacioun forn-cast,
The same nyght thurghout the hegges brast
Into the yerd, ther Chauntecleer the faire
Was wont, and eek hise wyves, to repaire.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. At night a coal-tipped sly Fox breaks through into the yard where Chauntecleer and his hen-wives are accustomed to go. He hides in a bed of cabbages to ambush Chauntecleer the next morning. He had been lurking in the grove for three years awaiting this opportunity to attack.