Chanticleer and the Fox the question of its origin. It has also been asserted that the tale has developed out of the basic situation in Aesop's fable of The Fox and the Crow. Early examples of the story are pithily fabular but towards the middle of the 12th century it appears as an extended episode of the "Reynard cycle" under the title "How Renart captured Chanticleer the cock" ("Si comme Renart prist Chanticler le Coq"). The work of which it was part was immensely popular and spread widely in translation. The basic situation concerns the cock Chanticleer, who lives with his three wives in
The Cock and the Jewel or material wealth, may represent the standard mediaeval answer to Aesop's riddle, but variants in the tradition did exist. The story stands at the head of Marie de France's 12th-century fable collection, the "Ysopet". There she adds a detail common in later retellings, that the cock is scratching on a dunghill, so emphasizing the contrast between the find and its location. The cock makes the observation that a rich man would have known how to make proper use of the gem it has uncovered, whereas "since I can't embellish you as I would like, I'll not wear you at all."