 The tale combines two motifs . Firstly , a husbandman <unk> the fields with his new oxen makes a rash oath aloud to give them to the wolf ; when the wolf <unk> this , he attempts to make sure that the man <unk> his promise . The fox <unk> a solution by speaking to them individually ; eventually he fools the wolf into following him to claim his supposed reward for dropping the case , and tricks him into a draw @-@ well . The moralitas connects the wolf to the wicked man , the fox to the devil , and the husbandman to the godly man . A probable source for the tale is Petrus Alfonsi 's Disciplina <unk> , containing the same motifs , and William Caxton 's Aesop 's <unk> — though the tale is a beast fable , not Aesopic . 
