The Vain Jackdaw

The Vain Jackdaw

JUPITER DETERMINED, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds,

and made proclamation that on a certain day they should all present

themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful

among them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing his own ugliness, searched

through the woods and fields, and collected the feathers which had

fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck them in all parts of

his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all.

When the appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before

Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many feathered

finery. But when Jupiter proposed to make him king because of the

beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly protested, and each

plucked from him his own feathers, leaving the Jackdaw nothing but a

Jackdaw.