An Eagle, swooping down on powerful wings, seized a lamb in her talons and made off with it to her nest.

A Jackdaw saw what had taken place, and he became filled with the idea that he was big and strong enough to do as the Eagle had done. So with much rustling of feathers and a fierce air, he came down swiftly on the back of a large Ram. But when he tried to rise again he found that he could not get away, for his feet had become tangled in the wool.

And so far was he from carrying away the Ram, that the Ram hardly noticed he was there.

The Farmer having seen the Eagle carry off one of his young lambs, saw the fluttering Jackdaw and at once guessed what had happened. Running up, he caught the bird and clipped its wings.

That evening he gave the Jackdaw to his children.

“What a funny silly bird this is!” they said laughing, “What do you call it, father?”

“That is a Jackdaw, my children, and he will always be a Jackdaw. But if you should ask him, he would say he is an Eagle.”

And the Moral of the story is:
Know yourself – understand your abilities and do not let vanity make you overestimate your powers.

Aesop’s Fables c. 600 B.C.