Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Foreign language (English) > Aesop’s Fables

The Crow Pretending to Be an Eagle

(Aesop’s Fables)

Translation　ちいさな翻訳屋さん

おりがみをつくろう ( おりがみくらぶ より) からす　　　ひつじ

Japanese ・ English ・Japanese & English

　Once upon a time, there was an eagle that was hunting.

　The eagle flew from the top of the high rock so swiftly,

　and grabbed a baby sheep with his sharp nails tightly in no time, then flew off.

“Cool!”

　A crow that saw the eagle flew off with the baby sheep thought, and said to himself,

“I'll hunt like the eagle did.

　I'm fed up with pecking nuts over and over again.”

　Then the crow started to hunt like the eagle.

　With his wings wide open and making a sharp wing sound, the crow tried to hunt a prey.

He thought, “If I hunt a prey, why don't I hunt one that's bigger than what the eagle hunted.

　If I use my nails like the eagle did, it will be a piece of cake to pick up a sheep.”

　In the crowd of sheep, the crow aimed at the fattest sheep, and tried to grab it on the back.

　However, the sheep was too heavy for the crow to pick up.

　The crow thought, “I can't help it. Well, a baby sheep will do anyway.”

　Then he tried to fly off with the baby sheep,

　but no matter how hard he tried,

　he could not fly

　because his nails were tangled in the curly sheep hair.

　While the crow was struggling to fly off somehow, he was captured by a sheepherder,

　and his wings were cut off by the sheepherder.

　In the meantime, the sheepherder's children came to see what had been happening.

　Then one of the children asked,

“Daddy, what's this bird called?”

　The sheepherder answered smilingly,

“I think this looks nothing but a crow by any means.

　But it seems like this crow thinks he's an eagle.”



　Even if we try to imitate others regardless of not owning their abilities, things will never go well easily.

　Not only that, it will also end up making such a fool of ourselves like this crow.

The end

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