The Eagle & the Kite
An Eagle sat high in the branches of a great Oak. She seemed very sad and drooping for an Eagle. A Kite saw her.
"Why do you look so woebegone?" asked the Kite.
"I want to get married," replied the Eagle, "and I can't find a mate who can provide for me as I should like."
"Take me," said the Kite; "I am very strong, stronger even than you!"
"Do you really think you can provide for me?" asked the Eagle eagerly.
"Why, of course," replied the Kite. "That would be a very simple matter. I am so strong I can carry away an Ostrich in my talons as if it were a feather!"
The Eagle accepted the Kite immediately. But after the wedding, when the Kite flew away to find something to eat for his bride, all he had when he returned, was a tiny Mouse.
"Is that the Ostrich you talked about?" said the Eagle in disgust.
"To win you I would have said and promised anything," replied the Kite.
Everything is fair in love.
The Eagle & the Jackdaw
An Eagle, swooping down on powerful wings, seized a lamb in her talons and made off with it to her nest. A Jackdaw saw the deed, and his silly head was filled with the idea that he was big and strong enough to do as the Eagle had done. So with much rustling of feathers and a fierce air, he came down swiftly on the back of a large Ram. But when he tried to rise again he found that he could not get away, for his claws were tangled in the wool. And so far was he from carrying away the Ram, that the Ram hardly noticed he was there.
The Shepherd saw the fluttering Jackdaw and at once guessed what had happened. Running up, he caught the bird and clipped its wings. That evening he gave the Jackdaw to his children.
"What a funny bird this is!" they said laughing, "what do you call it, father?"
"That is a Jackdaw, my children. But if you should ask him, he would say he is an Eagle."
Do not let your vanity make you overestimate your powers.
The Fighting Cocks & the Eagle
Once there were two Cocks living in the same farmyard who could not bear the sight of each other. At last one day they flew up to fight it out, beak and claw. They fought until one of them was beaten and crawled off to a corner to hide.
The Cock that had won the battle flew to the top of the hen-house, and, proudly flapping his wings, crowed with all his might to tell the world about his victory. But an Eagle, circling overhead, heard the boasting chanticleer and, swooping down, carried him off to his nest.
His rival saw the deed, and coming out of his corner, took his place as master of the farmyard.
Pride goes before a fall.
