But ye that holden this tale a folye,
As of a fox, or of a cok and hen,
Taketh the moralite, goode men.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. To those his think his story of a fox, cock and a hen is folly, the Nun’s Priest urges his audience not to miss the moral of the tale: which is, never trust a flatterer.