Page 220 of 244 Jupiter and the Birds - Fantastic Fables

Jupiter and the Birds

JUPITER commanded all the birds to appear before him, so that he might choose the most beautiful to be their king. The ugly jackdaw, collecting all the fine feathers which had fallen from the other birds, attached them to his own body and appeared at the examination, looking very gay. The other birds, recognising their own borrowed plumage, indignantly protested, and began to strip him.

"Hold!" said Jupiter; "this self-made bird has more sense than any of you. He is your king."

		Only as far as a man is happily married to himself is he fit for married life and family life in general. Friedrich L. Freiherr von Hardenberg - Novalis