Prevod

I have heard that a crow and a cat had sworn brotherhood. One day, as they sat together beneath a tree, they saw a leopard approaching the very tree under which they sheltered. They did not notice him until he was close at hand. The crow flew to the top of the tree, but the cat remained below, bewildered. “My dear friend,” he said to the crow, “can you devise some means of saving me, as I trust you will?” The crow replied, “It is in times of need that one turns to one’s brothers, seeking their ingenuity when misfortune strikes. How well the poet has said:

Your true friend is the one who stands beside you, who harms himself if that will bring you good; and when the blows of fate have torn you asunder, he scatters himself to make you whole. Now, near the tree were some shepherds with their dogs. The crow flew over, beat his wings against the ground, and cawed and cried out. Then he drew closer, struck some of the dogs in the face with his wing, and rose a little into the air. The dogs chased after him. A shepherd raised his head, saw a bird flying close to the ground and alighting, and followed it. The crow flew only far enough to keep out of the dogs’ reach, tempting them to think they could catch him. Then he rose a little higher, and the dogs followed until he reached the tree beneath which the leopard stood. When the dogs saw the leopard, they sprang at him, and he fled—though he had thought to make a meal of the cat. Thus the cat escaped through the ingenuity of his friend the crow. I have told you this, O King, so that you may know that the affection of true-hearted friends can save one from destruction.