The Cunning Little Vixen the vixen, and sits at the tree grieving the loss of both the vixen and Terynka. His grief grows until, just as in the beginning of the opera, a frog unexpectedly jumps in his lap, the grandson of the one who did so in act one. This reassurance of the cycle of death leading to new life gives his heart a deep peace. Apart from the Excursions of Mr Broucek, this is Janáček's lightest opera, and, despite the titular vixen's death at the end of the work, it stands in contrast to the often brutally serious nature of operas such
The Little Fox family's den and, upon his return, learns from his uncle Karak that his entire family has been shot and killed by a human hunter. Karak then offers for Vic to stay with him, and Karak continues to raise him. As Vic grows older, he develops much cunning and cleverness. Now a young adult fox, he finds a vixen, named Foxy, held captive in a cage on a human farm. He tricks the guard dogs and other animals, as well as the hunter himself, and eventually helps the vixen escape. Foxy joins Vic and Karak in the woods, but Vic's uncle