High above the meadow green, The mightiest bird you've ever seen -- An eagle circling, sharp and keen, Riding the wind like a flying machine.

She folded her wings. She dropped like a stone. She dove through the air All the way down alone. She grabbed up a lamb with her powerful claws And carried it off without even a pause.

Now a jackdaw was perched in a sycamore tree, And he watched the whole thing and he said, "Look at me! I've got wings and I've got claws -- I can do that too! If an eagle can grab a lamb, I know what I'll do!"

So he puffed out his chest And he spread his small wings And he launched himself down Like the eagle, the king of all things --

Down, down, down to the woolly white flock, He dove with a screech and he landed -- KNOCK KNOCK -- Right into the fleece of a fat fluffy sheep, And his little claws tangled in wool thick and deep.

He pulled and he tugged but he couldn't break free, His feet stuck like glue to that wool on the sheep! He flapped and he squawked, "Let me go! Let me out!" But the more that he struggled, the tighter throughout.

Along came the shepherd, Who saw the commotion, A jackdaw stuck fast In a flapping devotion.

He plucked up the bird and he clipped both his wings, And he carried him home for his children, poor thing. "What bird is that, Father?" the little ones cried. "He's a jackdaw," the shepherd said, laughing inside.

"But he thought he was something he wasn't, you see -- He tried to be eagle when jackdaw was he. Now here's what I'd like every child to recall: Be proud of yourself -- you don't need to be all."

It's fine to admire what the eagles can do, But the best thing to be in this world is just you. Know what you're good at, know what you can try, And you'll find your own wonderful way through the sky.

The Eagle and the Jackdaw