The basic situation concerns the cock Chanticleer, who lives with his three wives in an enclosure on a rich man's farm. He is forewarned in a dream of his capture by a predator but is inclined to disregard it, against the persuasion of his favourite, Pinte, who has already caught sight of Renart lurking in the cabbage patch. Eventually the two creatures meet and Renart overcomes the cock's initial fear by describing the great admiration he had for the singing of Chanticleer's father. If the son is to equal his father, he explains, he must shut his eyes as he stretches his neck to crow. But when Chanticleer obliges, the fox seizes him and makes a run for the woods with the farm workers and a mastiff in pursuit. Chanticleer now advises the fox to turn round and defy them, but when he opens his mouth to do so Chanticleer flies up to safety in a tree. Both then blame themselves for the gullibility their pride has led them into.