The Crow and the Pitcher

One hot summer day, a crow was searching for something to drink.

It hadn’t rained for months, so all the ponds and streams had dried up. Finally, the bird spotted a pitcher with cool water in a garden and flew down to drink from it. But when the crow put its head into the pitcher, it couldn’t reach the water because the pitcher was only half full.

Now, the crow was quite clever, so it came up with a plan—if it could make the pitcher shorter by breaking its neck, it would be able to reach the water at the bottom.

Tap! Tap! Tap! The crow pecked at the pitcher with its sharp beak again and again, but it was so hard and strong that not even the smallest crack appeared.

The crow, unwilling to give up, thought of a new plan. It would tip the pitcher over. The bird pushed and pushed with all its might, but the pitcher was too heavy and didn’t budge.

The poor crow knew it would die of thirst if it didn’t get something to drink. It had to find a way to bring the water up! Looking around for a solution, the crow spotted some small stones on the path. Suddenly, it had a new idea.

It picked up a small stone with its beak and dropped it into the pitcher. The water rose just a little. The crow picked up another stone and dropped it in. The water rose a little more.

The crow worked tirelessly, adding more and more stones to the pitcher, until the water finally reached near the top.

At last, the bird could reach the water—and it drank and drank until it could drink no more. The crow’s clever idea had saved its life.

And the moral is: Little by little, a little becomes a lot.

Wanna read more short bedtime stories?

Dan Wilkins and His Cat

Once upon a time, there was a poor orphan boy named Dan Wilkins who lived in a small village in the countryside. He was often very hungry. He had heard of a faraway place called London, where everyone was rich, and the streets were paved with gold. So, he decided to...

Lazy Luke

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Luke who lived with his mother in a small cottage. They were very poor. His mother earned a little money by spinning wool, but Luke was very lazy and did nothing to help. Eventually, his mother told him that she would throw him...

The Ox Who Was Jealous of the Pig

Big Red and Little Red were two large, strong oxen. They worked on a farm. All day long, they pulled the farmer’s plow through the fields or hauled his heavy cart to the market. When night fell, they were completely exhausted and would collapse into a deep, dreamless...