Metamorphosis

 "The next day or two he saw vixen and cubs again, though his visits were shorter, and these visits gave him such an innocent pleasure that very soon his notions of honour, duty and so on, were entirely forgotten, and his jealousy lulled asleep.
One day he tried taking with him the stereoscope and a pack of cards.  But though his Silvia was affectionate and amiable enough to let him put the stereoscope over her muzzle,  yet she would not look through it,  but kept turning her head to lick his hand, and it was plain to him that now she had quite forgotten the use of the instrument.  It was the same too with the cards.  For with them she was pleased enough, but only delighting to bite at them, and flip them about with her paws,  and never considering for a moment whether they were diamonds or clubs, or hearts or spades, or whether the card was an ace or not.  So it was evident that she had forgotten the nature of cards too.

"Oh Silvia,…have you forgotten what it is to be a woman?"

Thereafter he only brought them things which she could better enjoy, that  is sugar, grapes, raisins, and butcher's meat.

By and by, as the summer wore on, the cubs came to know him and he them, so that he was able to tell them easily apart,  and then he christened them. ... and told them he was their godfather and gave each of them a name...

Thus Mr Tebrick had a whole family now to occupy him, and indeed, came to love them with very much of a father's love and partiality."

Lady into Fox  David Garnett, illustrated by Rachel 'Ray' Garnett