QED Night

A story to read aloud

The Jay and the Peacock

1 min read aloud · For the whole family

A Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were moulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the Peacocks. When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and striding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes. So the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had watched his behaviour from a distance; but they were equally annoyed with him, and told him

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."

The Fables of Æsop (Jacobs) (1894 (1922 printing)), Aesop; ed. Joseph Jacobs, via en.wikisource.org — text CC BY-SA 4.0. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.