The Townsman and the Tame Crow
Once upon a time, in a great city with noisy streets and tall buildings, there lived an elegant man. One day this city man found a lovely and clever crow with an injured wing in his garden and took it home. He looked after it with care, offered fresh food in a golden bowl, and soon tamed the crow completely. Still, because he feared that the bird would escape, he tied a long, thin but strong string to its delicate foot. Although the tame crow had a warm nest and plenty of food, it missed the endless blue of the sky. As the days passed, the desire for freedom inside the crow began to overcome the comfort of the golden cage.
It said to itself: "All this delicious food is not enough to make me happy, my place is beside the free birds." Finally, on a sunny morning, it seized a moment when the man was distracted and flew swiftly out of the window. Leaving the noise of the city behind, it flapped its wings toward the deep, dark green forest it had dreamed of with longing. When the wind stroked its feathers, it gave a great cry of joy and wanted to enjoy its freedom. While it glided among the branches of a tall oak tree, it had completely forgotten the long string on its foot. Just as it was about to land among the thick leaves, that string tied to its foot wound tightly around a thick branch.
However much the poor bird struggled, it could not manage to untie the knot and remained hanging in the air. The more it struggled in despair, the more the rope tangled, and the hard branches hurt it. That free forest shining in the sun had suddenly turned into a trap without return for it. When hunger and weariness came, the crow remembered with regret the safe and comfortable life its owner had offered. "Oh, how ignorant I was, I scorned my ease and lost my life," it cried out bitterly. Sadly, this step taken without thinking led it not to freedom, but to an end it had prepared with its own hands. Wasting the safe peace in hand only to want more with greed does a person the greatest harm. Grasp all, lose all.