Aesop's Fables

An Owl, in her wisdom, counseled the Birds, when the acorn first began to sprout, to pull it all up out of the ground and not allow it to grow. She said that acorns would produce mistletoe, from which an irremediable poison, birdlime, would be extracted, and by which they would be captured. The Owl next advised them to pluck up the seed of the flax, which men had sown, as it was a plant that boded no good for them. And lastly the Owl, seeing an archer approach, predicted that this man, being on foot, would contrive darts armed with feathers that would fly faster than the wings of the Birds themselves. The Birds gave no credence to these words of warning but considered the Owl to be out of her mind and said that she was mad. But afterward, finding that her words were true, they marveled at her knowledge and deemed her the wisest of birds. That is why, when she appears, they look to her as one who knows all things, while she no longer gives them advice but laments their past folly in solitude.