Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
8. THE JACKDAW AND THE STRING
Perry 131 (Chambry
164)
A man caught a jackdaw and tied the bird's foot with a piece of string
so that he could give the bird to his children as a present. The jackdaw,
however, could not stand to live in human society, so when they let him
loose for just a moment, he ran away. But when he got back to his nest,
the string became entangled in the branches, so that the jackdaw was unable
to fly. As he was dying, the bird said to himself, 'How stupid of me!
Since I could not stand being a slave in human society, I have brought
about my own death.'
This story is appropriate for people who want to rescue themselves
from some moderate difficulties and, without realizing it, find themselves
in even more serious trouble.
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.
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