Kmet, deček in kavke

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Kmet, deček in kavke

The Pleiades were setting, and it was sowing time. A farmer had scattered wheat on his newly ploughed land and stood guard over it, for a vast black flock of harsh-voiced jackdaws had come, along with starlings that dug up the seed in the fields. A boy followed him, carrying a sling with a hollow pouch. From experience, the starlings knew to listen for him asking for the sling, and flew away before he could take it. So the farmer devised another trick. Calling the boy to him, he explained: “My boy, we must outwit these clever birds. When they come, I shall ask for bread, but you must give me the sling instead of bread.” The starlings came and began feeding in the field. The farmer asked for bread, as they had agreed, and the birds did not fly away. The boy handed him the sling, its pouch full of stones. The old man let fly, striking one bird on the crown, another on the leg, and a third on the shoulder. Away they fled from the field. Some cranes met them and asked what had happened. One of the jackdaws said: “Keep clear of humankind, that wicked race who have learned to say one thing to one another and do another.” Fearsome is the breed that acts by deceit.