The Crow who was Thirsty

7.20. De cornice sitiente
Caxton: Of the crowe whiche was a thurst
Better is crafte and subtylyte than force / As reherceth to vs this fable / Of a crowe whiche vpon a day came for to drynke oute of a boket / and by cause that she myght not reche to the water / she dyd fyll the boket ful of small stones / in soo moche that the water came vpward / wherof she dranke thenne at her wylle / and playsyre /
And therfore hit appiereth wel / that wytte or sapyence is a moche fayr verture For by sapyence or wytte / thow shalt mowe resyste to all faultes /
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The Crow and the Pitcher

047. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER A Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher, which he saw at a distance. But when he came up to it, he found the water so low that with all his stooping and straining he was unable to reach it. Thereupon he tried to break the Pitcher; then to overturn it; but his strength was not sufficient to do either. At last, seeing some small pebbles at hand, he dropped a great many of them, one by one, into the Pitcher, and so raised the water to the brim, and quenched his thirst.
Skill and Patience will succeed where Force fails. Necessity is the Mother of Invention. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

053. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher which he beheld at some distance. When he came, he found water in it indeed, but so near the bottom, that with all his stooping and straining, he was not able to reach it: then he endeavoured to overturn the pitcher, that so at least he might be able to get a little of it; but his strength was not sufficient for this; at last, seeing some pebbles lie near the place, he cast them one by one into the pitcher; and thus by degrees, raised the water up to the very brim, and satisfied his thirst. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

37. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A crow, whose throat was parched and dry with thirst, saw a pitcher in the distance. In great joy he flew to it, but found that it held only a little water, and even that was too near the bottom to be reached, for all his stooping and straining. Next he tried to overturn the pitcher, thinking that he would at least be able to catch some of the water as it trickled out. But this he was not strong enough to do. In the end he found some pebbles lying near, and by dropping them one by one into the pitcher, he managed at last to raise the water up to the very brim, and thus was able to quench his thirst. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

039. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher which he beheld at some distance. When he came, he found water in it indeed, but so near the bottom, that with all his stooping and straining, he was not able to reach it: then he endeavoured to overturn the pitcher, that so at least he might be able to get a little of it; but his strength was not sufficient for this; at last, seeing some pebbles lie near the place, he cast them one by one into the pitcher; and thus by degrees, raised the water up to the very brim, and satisfied his thirst. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

2.48. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a pitcher which he beheld at some distance. When he came, he found water in it indeed, but so near the bottom, that with all his stooping and straining, he was not able to reach it. Then he endeavoured to overturn the pitcher, that so at least he might be able to get a little of it; but his strength was not sufficient for this. At last, seeing some pebbles lie near the place, he cast them one by one into the pitcher; and thus, by degrees, raised the water up to the very brim, and satisfied his thirst.
MORAL. What we cannot compass by force, we may by invention and industry. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

189. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A CROW perishing with thirst saw a pitcher, and hoping to find water, flew to it with delight. When he reached it, he discovered to his grief that it contained so little water that he could not possibly get at it. He tried everything he could think of to reach the water, but all his efforts were in vain. At last he collected as many stones as he could carry and dropped them one by one with his beak into the pitcher, until he brought the water within his reach and thus saved his life.
Necessity is the mother of invention. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

08. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A Crow, ready to die with thirst, flew with joy to a Pitcher, which he saw at a distance. But when he came up to it, he found the water so low that with all his stooping and straining he was unable to reach it. Thereupon he tried to break the Pitcher; then to overturn it, but his strength was not sufficient to do either. At last, seeing some small pebbles lie near the place, he cast them one by one into the Pitcher; and thus, by degrees, raised the water up to the very brim, and quenched his thirst. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

55. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A Crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a Pitcher which had once been full of water; but when the Crow put its beak into the mouth of the Pitcher he found that only very little water was left in it, and that he could not reach far enough down to get at it. He tried, and he tried, but at last had to give up in despair.
Then a thought came to him, and he took a pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. At last, at last, he saw the water mount up near him, and after casting in a few more pebbles he was able to quench his thirst and save his life.
Little by little does the trick. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

05. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A crow who was very thirsty found a Pitcher with a little water in it. But the water lay so low that she could not come at it.
She tried first to break the Pitcher, and then to overturn it, but it was too strong and too heavy for her. At last she thought of a way. She dropped a great many little pebbles into the Pitcher, until she had raised the water so that she could reach it. [more info]

The Crow and Pot

039. THE CROW AND POT. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll down to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

39. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER.
How the cunning old Crow got his drink
When 'twas low in the pitcher, just think!
Don't say that he spilled it!
With pebbles he filled it,
Till the water rose up to the brink.
USE YOUR WITS
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The Crow and the Pitcher

020. THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. A thirsty Crow found a Pitcher with some water in it, but so little was there that, try as she might, she could not reach it with her beak, and it seemed as though she would die of thirst within sight of the remedy. At last she hit upon a clever plan. She began dropping pebbles into the Pitcher, and with each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it reached the brim, and the knowing bird was enabled to quench her thirst.Necessity is the mother of invention. [more info]

The Crow and the Pitcher

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER. In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.
Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.
In a pinch a good use of our wits may help us out. [more info]