THE EAGLE, THE JACKDAW, AND THE SHEPHERD
Jackdaw sat in a tree, amazed, his eyes fixed on an eagle, soaring overhead. He watched as the eagle swooped over a flock of sheep, grazing on the grassy hills, his wings glinting like gold in the late summer sun. Jackdaw sighed. More than anything he wished he could be like Eagle.
“He’s so beautiful.” Thought jackdaw. “So magnificent, and so powerful.”
Then, suddenly, Eagle swooped down, fast. He shot past the shepherd on the hill and grabbed a lamb in his outstretched talons. The shepherd ran to save his lamb, but with a triumphant cry, the eagle flew off, the lamb dangling from his claws, and disappeared toward the distant mountains.
Jackdaw watched it all, longingly, day dreaming that he were an eagle.
“Ha, ha, ha! You could never be like Eagle,” came a small voice.
Jackdaw glanced up to see a caterpillar on the branch above, laughing at him.
“Look at your sooty black feathers,” the caterpillar went on, “and your raggedy little wings. What do you eat? Nuts and fruit? Baby birds? You couldn’t catch anything as big as an eagle could catch.”
“I could catch you!” Snapped the jackdaw. The caterpillar darted behind some leaves, then laughed,
“And I could catch a lamb,” Jackdaw said. “Ha, I could catch a ram if I wanted,”
“Show me!” retorted the caterpillar, boldly popping up again.
“I will!” Said Jackdaw.
He set off, flapping his scraggy black wings, cawing loudly. He made so much noise, the shepherd on the hill looked over to see what was happening.
With a dramatic dive, jackdaw plopped down onto a ram’s back and grabbed its fleece with his claws. “Easy!” He cried. He looked around, pleased with himself, then flapped his wings to take off again. Nothing happened. The ram wouldn’t budge.
“He’s too heavy.” Panted Jackdaw. He looked around, embarrassed. “I’ll just fly away quietly,” he thought, “and pretend the whole thing never happened.” But he couldn’t. He was stuck. His claws were caught in the ram’s fleece, and no matter how hard he pulled and tugged… he was trapped.
From either end of the field, the shepherd and the caterpillar watched jackdaw. They both laughed.
At last the shepherd sauntered over to the struggling bird. He carefully placed his hands around Jackdaw’s belly and untangled his claws. Then he clipped his wings, put him in his bag and that night, took him home to his children.
“What is it? What kind of bird is it?”
“Well, it’s a jackdaw,” the shepherd replied, “But he seems to think he’s an eagle. Here,” he added, holding him out. “You can have him for a pet.”
And the moral is – don’t pretend to be something or someone you’re not.