Quotations about:
    fox

When I
Still wore my mother’s gift of flesh and bone,
My deeds were not the lion’s. I was sly,
A fox. All wiles and ways to slink alone
Unseen. I knew, and practiced hidden arts
So everywhere on Earth they were renowned.

[Mentre ch’io forma fui d’ossa e di polpe
che la madre mi diè, l’opere mie
non furon leonine, ma di volpe.
Li accorgimenti e le coperte vie
io seppi tutte, e sì menai lor arte,
ch’al fine de la terra il suono uscie.]

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet

The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 27, l. 73ff (27.73-78) [Montefeltro] (1309) [tr. James (2013), l. 82ff]
    (Source)

(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:

Whilst I was formed of the Bones and Flesh
Which me my Mother gave, whate'er I did
Partook not of the Lion, but of the Fox
All wariness, and covert ways so well
I knew, that my Art sounmded o'er the earth.
[tr. Rogers (1782), l. 71ff]

From earliest youth I shun'd the lion Law,
Contented, with the wily fox, to draw
The heedless foe within my fatal snare:
Fraud was my fame, and circumvention deep.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 13]

Long as this spirit mov’d the bones and pulp
My mother gave me, less my deeds bespake
The nature of the lion than the fox.
All ways of winding subtlety I knew,
And with such art conducted, that the sound
Reach’d the world’s limit.
[tr. Cary (1814)]

While I the shape in bones and flesh arrayed
Wore which my mother gave, the foxes style
More than the lion's all mine acts betrayed.
The covert ways -- the subtleties of guile --
I knew them all, and soon the world around
Rung with my fame, how versed in every wile.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]

While I was in the form of bones and pulp, which my mother gave me, my deeds were not those of the lion, but of the fox.
All wiles and covert ways I knew; and used the art of them so well, that to the ends of the earth the sound went forth.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]

When of the bone and pulp my mother gave
I still was formed, the works I left behind
Were of the fox, not of the lion kind:
Contrivances, and all the hidden schemes,
I knew them well, could to their course attend
Until their sound reached to the world's end.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]

So long as I was form'd of flesh and bone
My mother's gift to me, the work I did
Savour'd not of the line but the fox.
Foresight to win and ev'ry hidden way
I knew and practiced, and my craft so great
That to earth's boundaries the fame went forth.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]

While I was still the form of bone and pulp
⁠My mother gave to me, the deeds I did
⁠Were not those of a lion, but a fox.
The machinations and the covert ways
⁠I knew them all, and practised so their craft,
⁠That to the ends of earth the sound went forth.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]

While that I was a shape of bones and flesh which my mother gave me, my works were not lion-like, but of a fox. Cunning things and hidden ways I knew them all; and so I wielded the arts of them that the sound went forth to the end of the earth.
[tr. Butler (1885)]

Whilst made of bone and flesh that form was mine
The which my mother gave me, every deed
Of mine was fox-like and not leonine.
The wary wiles and hidden ways at need
I studied all and practised so the art
That to the earth's confines the fame did speed.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]

While I was that form of bone and flesh that my mother gave me, my works were not leonine, but of the fox. The wily practices, and the covert ways, I knew them all, and I so plied their art that to the earth’s end the sound went forth.
[tr. Norton (1892)]

Whilst I was still a form of flesh and bone, the which my mother gave me, my deeds were not those of the lion, but of the fox. Wiles and secret ways, I knew them all; and to such purpose plied their arts, that it was noised abroad even to the earth's end.
[tr. Sullivan (1893)]

While I was still the form of bone and tissue
Of which my mother made me gift, my doings.
Were worthy of the fox, not of the lion.
Sapping and mining and intelligencing,
I knew them all, and so their craft had practised
That to the ends of earth the sound had issued.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]

While I informed the bones and flesh my mother gave me my deeds were those, not of the line, but of the fox; I knew all wiles and covert ways and so practiced their that their sound went forth to the end of the world.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]

Whilst I was bones and pulp and in the mould
My mother made for me, my deeds were those
Of the sly fox, not of the lion bold.
All cunning stratagems and words that gloze
I knew, and mastered the uses of deceit
So that to earth's end rumour of it goes.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]

While I was still that shape of bone and flesh
In which my mother moulded me at birth
My deeds were foxy and not lionish;
I knew each winding way, each covert earth.
And used such art and cunning in deceit
That to the ends of the world the sound went forth.
[tr. Sayers (1949)]

While I was still encased
in the pulp and bone my mother bore, my deeds
were not of the lion but of the fox: I raced
through tangled ways; all wiles were mine from birth
and I won to such advantage with my arts
that rumor of me reached the ends of the earth.
[tr. Ciardi (1954)]

While I was the form of the flesh and bones my mother gave me, my deeds were not those of the lion, but of the fox. I knew all wiles and covert ways, and plied the art of them so well that to the ends of the earth their sound went forth.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]

While I still had the form of the bones and flesh
my mother gave me, all my actions were
not those of a lion, but those of a fox;
the wiles and covert paths, I knew them all,
and so employed my art that rumor of me
spread to the farthest limits of the earth.
[tr. Musa (1971)]

While I still had the form of bones and flesh
my mother gave to me, my deeds were not
those of the lion but those of the fox.
The wiles and secret ways -- I knew them all
and so employed their arts that my renown
had reached the very boundaries of earth.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]

When I was still formed of the flesh and bone
My mother gave me, all that I achieved
Was done less by the lion than the fox.
The subtle ways of acting under cover,
I knew them all, and used all these devices
So well, that I was famous everywhere.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]

In the flesh and bones my mother gave me, were those
Of the fox, not the lion. I was expert
In all the stratagems and covert ways,
And practiced them with so much cunning art
The sound extended to the earth's far end.
[tr. Pinsky (1994)]

While I was the form of bone and flesh that my mother gave me, my works were not those of a lion but a fox.
The tricks and the hidden ways, I knew them all, and I so plied their art that the fame of it went out to the ends of the earth.
[tr. Durling (1996)]

While I was in the form of bones and pulp, that my mother gave me, my actions were not those of the lion, but of the fox. I knew all the tricks and coverts, and employed the art of them so well, that the noise went out to the ends of the earth.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

While still I had the form of pulp and bone
my mother gave me, never lion-like
was I, but travelled like the fox alone.
I was a crafty and wily tyke,
and knew the tricky ways of men so well
my fame resounded over dale and dike.
[tr. Carson (2002)]

While I was still, in form, such pulp and bone
as, first, my mother gave to me, actions
of mine all favoured rather fox than lion.
Stratagems, wiles and covert operations --
I knew them all. These arts I so pursued
that word of me rang out throughout the world.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]

While I still kept the form in flesh and bones
my mother gave me, my deeds were not
a lion's but the actions of a fox.
Cunning stratagems and covert schemes,
I knew them all, and was so skilled in them
my fame rang out to the far confines of the earth.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]

When I was a form of flesh and bone, as my mother
Made me, I neither lived nor acted as lions
Do: the beast I most resembled was a fox.
I knew the tricks and escapes, the secret ways
I knew them all, and I lived the way they led me,
My reputation echoed all over the earth.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]