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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

342. THE JACKDAW AND THE EAGLE
Perry 2 (Syntipas 9)

There was a jackdaw who saw an eagle carry away a lamb from the flock. The jackdaw then wanted to do the very same thing himself. He spied a ram amidst the flock and tried to carry it off, but his talons got tangled in the wool. The shepherd then came and struck him on the head and killed him.
This fable shows that when someone lacking in strength tries to imitate someone stronger, he proves that he is not only weak but stupid, and his foolish behaviour can even put his life at risk.

Note: In a Greek prose version of this fable (Chambry 5), the shepherd captures the jackdaw and takes the bird home for his children to play with.

Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.