JUPITER DETERMINED1, it is said, to create a sovereign over the

　　birds, and made proclamation that on a certain day they should

　　all present themselves before him, when he would himself choose

　　the most beautiful among them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing

　　his own ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and

　　collected the feathers which had fallen from the wings of his

　　companions, and stuck them in all parts of his body, hoping

　　thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all. When the

　　appointed day arrived, and the birds had assembled before

　　Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many

　　feathered finery. But when Jupiter proposed to make him king

　　because of the beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly

　　protested, and each plucked from him his own feathers, leaving

　　the Jackdaw nothing but a Jackdaw.