The Wisdom of Aesop

The Peacock and the Magpie

Birds arrive on foot and wing
and all begin to squawk and sing:
“It's time to choose ourselves a king.”

The peacock's strutting up and down:
“My regal tail's the best in town –
bright feathers want a kingly crown.”

The other birds, from rook to wren,
are nodding in approval, when
a magpie thrusts past duck and hen:

“Our king-elect is handsome, true!
And I admire the peacock, too,
but there's one other point of view:

What if a vulture should descend
among us? Who would best defend
us smaller birds? Where might it end?"

The magpie's question prompts a stir.
Ah, now, so many birds concur
and question who they would prefer –

a peacock, with his swaggering zing,
or him, whose modest comments ring
far truer than the peacock's bling?
And so they pick their magpie king.

Moral:
Kings rule best through what they know
And not through vain pretence and show.

Aesop's fable retold © Celia Warren 2019

Another very blustery day, although this time with cheerful, bright sunshine and blue skies. And a lot more bluster and hot air from our rulers. Give me the natural world over politics any day of the week!