THE EAGLE, THE SOW AND THE CAT
An eagle had made her nest up high in an oak tree; meanwhile, in a hollow halfway
up the tree, a cat had given birth to kittens; finally, at the foot of the tree
there was a forest-dwelling sow and her litter of piglets. As it turned out,
this fortuitous congregation was eventually destroyed by the cat's wicked and
malicious scheming. First, she went to the eagle's nest and said, 'You are about
to be destroyed, and so am I! Woe is me! You can see for yourself how the treacherous
sow keeps digging in the dirt day after day: she plans to uproot the tree so
that she will be able to attack our offspring down there on the ground.' After
having scared the eagle out of her wits with these words, the cat then crept
down to the den of the bristly sow. 'Your litter is in grave danger,' said the
cat, 'because the eagle is ready to seize your little piglets as soon as you
go out to look for food.' Having filled the houses of both the eagle and the
sow with terror, the sneaky creature hid herself safely inside her hollow in
the tree. She crept out at night on tiptoe, finding plenty of food for herself
and her kittens, but during the day she only poked her nose out of her den,
pretending to be afraid. Meanwhile, the eagle didn't stir from the branches
since she expected some disaster and the wild sow would not venture out of doors,
since she wanted to protect her home from the eagle's attack. To make a long
story short: the sow and the eagle both died of hunger, together with their
children, thus supplying the cat and her kittens with a bountiful feast.
This fable is a lesson for foolish and gullible people that someone who
speaks with a forked tongue often stirs up all kinds of trouble. |