ABSTRACT
The Fox, you will remember, argued as follows:
'The Snake is proud: he will accept. He will then almost surely die in the attempt. Then I shall have no rival, and can easily persuade the band that further tests are a waste of time.
Or he may live, but fail. The result will be the same: for having lost face, he will leave at once for distant parts.
Or perhaps - conceivably - he may succeed. But once he has stolen the Eye, the possibility of MY doing so cannot arise. And the vengeance of the priests of Zorro is horrible and swift. He will not rule for long; and I am his only successor.'
The Fox's argument - like most reasoning in ordinary language needs untangling before its logical form is clear.