The tale combine two motifs . Firstly , a husbandman tilling the fields with his new oxen make a rash oath aloud to give them to the wolf ; when the wolf overhear this , he attempt to make sure that the man fulfill his promise . The fox mediate a solution by speaking to them individually ; eventually he fool the wolf into following him to claim his supposed reward for dropping the case , and trick him into a draw @-@ well . The moralitas connect 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 Clericalis , containing the same motifs , and William Caxton 's Aesop 's Fables — though the tale is a beast fable , not Aesopic .