Fox Hunt
During a fox hunt there are two hunters; the man and the hounds.The man is mounted and committed fully to a singular goal. He is committed to the chase and dedicated to the trial. Men, the good hunters, would release their hounds and set to a gentlemanly endeavour.
The hounds pick up the scent of the fox and salivate, howling, ferociously applying themselves to the hunt. Nothing short of death or grievous wound will stop the vicious hunting dog. Men celebrate their hounds when they aid the hunt. The men know that the hunter's heart beats hard in the beast and in their own chest.
What separates the man from the dog is reservation and intellect. The ability to lay quiet and trap the fox. The hounds will chase relentlessly with unadulterated savagery. The men will come from an unexpected angle. They will anticipate the path the fox intends to follow, not the one that the fox has already laid. The fox is clever and can confuse and evade even the skilled hunter. The hunter must must apply himself to his craft daily to out smart the fox.
There are times the hounds though, in their lust for the hunt, will attack the hunter. They are beasts and when filled with the blinding excitement of the fox, they will attack or even kill anyone who interrupts the hunt.
The hunter must punish the hound for a wound inflicted. Loyal dogs will lie before their master, accepting their place in the pack. They know their place even after they have strayed. The hunter forgives and rewards the loyal hound. The wild dog though, the dog that has tasted the blood of the fox, his pack, and the hunter - this dog must be put down. No longer does the hunter's heart beat in this one, only blood lust. This lust will be turned on the pack, hurting his own kin foolishly and unexpectedly. This dog must be put down.
A good hunter knows he is not exempt from this lust. The hunt flows through his arteries and if he allows the heart of the beast to pound in his chest when he sees his hounds hunting, then he too has become a dog. Wild and without concern for his humanity he too begins to chase the fox with barbaric fool heartedness, instead of using his intellect and his skilled techniques learned through years of experience. The hunter becomes the hound. Even if the fox is captured, the wild hunter will never know the true victory of the earned kill.
All men must look to be a hunter, lest they be one of the wild dogs, which are forever more dangerous to his family than the fox ever was. Wild dogs must perish so the hunter can live without wound. The loyal dog must be rewarded. The loyal dog might hurt his master or his kin, but returns to the pack after seeking forgiveness. The loyal dog earns tomorrow's hunt by understanding the rules of the pack and the man. The good hunter earns the fox.