fables folktales · Ages 6-8

The Peacock Who Wanted the Crane's Wings

A peacock admires his own feathers until a crane flies away, teaching him that beauty and usefulness are different gifts.

The whole story

1. At sunrise, a male Indian peacock with an iridescent blue-green neck and breast, a small crown of blue feathers, dark brown eyes, a long shimmering green and bronze train covered with blue and gold eye-spots, and strong grey legs opened his feathers beside the pond. His reflection glittered back at him.

2. A tall grey crane came to drink. The peacock lifted his shining train. “My feathers are splendid,” he said. “But your wings look plain.”

3. The peacock studied the crane’s wings. They were broad, neat, and grey. “I would trade my feathers for wings like those,” he whispered.

4. The crane opened one wing. The peacock stretched his own. His bright feathers looked grand, but they felt heavy on his back.

5. The peacock tried to cross the pond. He stepped in, flapped hard, and splashed back onto the bank. The crane waited quietly on the other side.

6. Then the crane spread his plain wings. He rose above the reeds and crossed the shining pond as easily as a leaf rides the breeze.

7. The peacock lowered his feathers. They were beautiful, but they could not carry him over the water.

8. The crane flew away. The peacock admired him, then admired his own bright train too. Beauty was one gift. Flight was another.

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