This is one of the best short fables with morals for kids. Once upon a time, in a huge tree in a forest lived a beautiful swallow. Though the swallow was beautiful, it was extremely proud of its beauty.
“Look at my beautiful feathers,” the swallow would say, “they are so colorful, so pretty. Who would not find these feathers of mine beautiful? Oh, look at my plumage; it is even prettier than the feathers on my wings!” Also, read Hawk And The Nightingale.
Image Source–> bynoahnorrid.com. Then one day, the swallow meets a crow. Now the crow, unlike the swallow, was jet black with not a single colorful feather on its body. When the swallow sees the crow, it does not like the monotonous color of the crow. So the swallow says to the crow, “How dull! All the feathers on your body are of the same color. Look at mine they are so colorful and beautiful.”
Upon hearing the swallow talking, the crow flies and sits down on the same branch as the swallow. The swallow continues, “Even your tail is shorter than mine. And look, even your features are all black.” The swallow then looked at himself, admiring every feather on its body, happy to have them so colorful. You may also like to read, The Crow And The Peacock Story.
After hearing the swallow the crow only replied, “But my feathers help me fly!” “So do mine and yet they are prettier than yours!” the proud swallow exclaims! The swallow then spreads his wings and flies closer to the crow. When the swallow had spread its wings, the crow observed that there were feathers of many different colors.
“It is true that the swallow’s feathers are beautiful and mine are all black,” the crow thinks. Then the crow says, “I won’t deny that you have beautiful feathers and mine are dull in comparison to yours. But it is also true I have never seen you fly even once in winters. Your beautiful feathers fall off and you are unable to keep yourself warm, whereas my feathers always stay with me irrespective of the weather. So, I do not care if my feathers aren’t as pretty or as shiny as yours, I love them as they are.”