Aesop's Fables

#88 The Eagle and the Kite

An Eagle, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a tree in company with a Kite.

"Why," said the Kite, "do I see you with such a rueful look?"

"I seek," the Eagle replied, "a mate suitable for me, and am not able to find one."

"Take me," returned the Kite, "I am much stronger than you are,"

"Why, are you able to secure the means of living by your plunder?" asked the Eagle.

"Well, I have often caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons," said the Kite.

The Eagle was persuaded and accepted him as her mate. Shortly after the nuptials, the Eagle said, "Fly off and bring me back the ostrich you promised me."

The Kite soaring aloft into the air brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the length of time it had lain about the fields.

"Is this," said the Eagle, "the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?"

The Kite replied, "That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must fail in the performance."