The Story of the Crow’s Trick
This wondrous story occurred in ancient times, in a distant land whose name the narrators forgot. In that time, a thousand crows lived in that land, and a thousand owls. The crows built their nests among the leaves of a high, dense-branched tree. The owls made their homes in caves inside a large mountain surrounding the crows’ tree. Years passed, year after year. Then a greedy king ruled the owls, neither wise nor brave. One day he looked toward the crows’ tree to be his resort and for his close followers. Because he was cowardly, he didn’t declare war on the black birds, but rather betrayed his black neighbors, the inhabitants of the tree. He attacked them suddenly while they were sleeping in safety, killing a large number of them. ...