The Two Travelers and the Axe

　　Jupiter announced that he intended to appoint a king over the birds,

　　and named a day on which they were to appear before his throne, when

　　he would select the most beautiful of them all to be their ruler.

　　Wishing to look their best on the occasion they repaired to the

　　banks of a stream, where they busied themselves in washing and

　　preening their feathers. The Jackdaw was there along with the rest,

　　and realized that, with his ugly plumage, he would have no chance of

　　being chosen as he was: so he waited till they were all gone, and then

　　picked up the most gaudy1 of the feathers they had dropped, and

　　fastened them about his own body, with the result that he looked gayer

　　than any of them. When the appointed day came, the birds assembled

　　before Jupiter's throne. After passing them in review, he was about to

　　make the Jackdaw king, when all the rest set upon the king-select,

　　stripped him of his borrowed plumes2, and exposed him for the Jackdaw

　　that he was.

　　"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."