Expression: Treason is but trusted like the fox, who...

[Tom]

Hi

Coud you please explain the given lines to me?I would be thankful.

" Treason is but trusted like the fox, who, never so tame, so cherished and locked up, will have a wild trick of his ancestors."

Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

Your sentence is a difficult one. Where did it come from? Shakespeare maybe?

Have you tried taking it apart (eliminating pieces of it temporarily) in order to discover the "core sentence"? I think this is something you ought to practice.

Amy
_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Tom]

If truth be told, so help me God! I am going to have a whack at it.

Please tell me how much I am correct in my understanding of the quote.

"Even if a fox does not learn any tricks from its ancestors(parents), it is going to be (as) cunning and deceiving (as them) because it runs in its blood. Same is the case with treason!It does not have to be taught because it is something one is born with."

Waiting Tom

[Yankee]

Hi Tom

That sounds like a pretty good whack to me!

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English