A husbandman tilling the fields with his new , untrained oxen is made furious by their wrecking of the land . In his anger he make the rash oath that the wolf " mot have you all at anis ! [ may , at once ] " . However , the wolf is lying nearby with the fox , and , overhearing it , promise to make him stay true to his word . Eventually the oxen calm down , but on the way back home the wolf jump into their path . The wolf ask where the husbandman is driving them , since they are not his , to which he confirm that they are and ask why he is being stopped since he never offended the wolf before . The wolf remind the husbandman of his earlier declaration , to which he reply that a man may say things that do not mean anything . They argue , and the husbandman reproach the wolf for not having a witness ; in response , he produce the fox . The creature take it upon himself to mediate the dispute , and take each aside in turn . To the husbandman he say that he would lend his expertise to help him was it not for the " grit coist and expence " of doing so ; the husbandman offer him half a dozen of the fattest hens he have , to which the fox acedes and go off . To the wolf he say that the husbandman have offered an unparalleled block of cheese in exchange for him dropping the case .