What is the moral of The Crow and the Pitcher?

Older versions sum it up as "necessity is the mother of invention" or "little by little does the trick." The crow cannot reach the water, so she finds a new way and raises it one pebble at a time.

Who wrote The Crow and the Pitcher?

It is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE. The Roman poet Avianus also told it in verse; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.

What age is The Crow and the Pitcher for?

It suits children from about 3 to 8. Little ones enjoy counting the pebbles, and older children can try the water-raising trick themselves with a glass and some stones.

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Fable · 声匠改编 · 3:39

The Crow and the Pitcher

A thirsty crow finds water too low to reach in a pitcher. As a magpie scoffs, she drops in pebble after pebble. Aesop's fable of patient thinking, retold.

Narrator

Cora the Crow

Pip the Magpie

Little Sparrow

0:000:00

Other languages · 2 languages

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

About this story

The Crow and the Pitcher is one of Aesop's Fables, the short moral tales handed down from ancient Greece, and scientists have since shown that real rooks and crows can solve the very same puzzle with stones. This VoiceSmiths retelling gives the crow a little sparrow helper and a scoffing magpie, so the pebble-by-pebble rescue plays out as a full-cast audio story.

What it teaches

Clever thinking and patience can solve problems that strength cannot. When one idea fails, try another, and a big job gets done one small step at a time.

Suits

Ages 3–8

Tips for telling it

Try it at the table: half-fill a glass, drop in marbles or pebbles, and watch the water rise.
Pause before Cora finds the pebbles and ask: what would you do to reach the water?
Count the plinks together to show how lots of small steps add up.

Questions people ask

What is the moral of The Crow and the Pitcher?: Older versions sum it up as "necessity is the mother of invention" or "little by little does the trick." The crow cannot reach the water, so she finds a new way and raises it one pebble at a time.
Who wrote The Crow and the Pitcher?: It is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally credited to Aesop, a storyteller said to have lived in ancient Greece around the sixth century BCE. The Roman poet Avianus also told it in verse; this version is a VoiceSmiths retelling.
What age is The Crow and the Pitcher for?: It suits children from about 3 to 8. Little ones enjoy counting the pebbles, and older children can try the water-raising trick themselves with a glass and some stones.

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