Source text · edition and source credits · no added LexiArk translation or commentary

Fable · Story

The Peacock and the Crane

Aesop (George Fyler Townsend translation)Ancient Greek fable tradition · Townsend translationStory
SOURCE TEXT · English source edition
A PEACOCK spreading its gorgeous tail mocked a Crane that passed by, ridiculing the ashen hue of its plumage and saying, “I am robed, like a king, in gold and purple and all the colors of the rainbow; while you have not a bit of color on your wings.” “True,” replied the Crane; “but I soar to the heights of heaven and lift up my voice to the stars, while you walk below, like a cock, among the birds of the dunghill.”
Fine feathers don’t make fine birds.