Ptičar, jerebica in petelinček

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Ptičar, jerebica in petelinček

A friend paid an unexpected visit to a birdcatcher just as he was about to dine on thyme and celery. His cage was empty, for he had caught nothing. So he made ready to kill a speckled partridge he had tamed to help him catch other birds. But the partridge begged him to spare its life. “What use will your net be to you when you go hunting from now on?” it said. “Who will gather a lovely flock of companionable birds for you? Whose sweet song will lull you to sleep?” He let the partridge go and decided to catch a young, wattled rooster instead. But the rooster called out shrilly from its perch: “How will you learn how long it is till dawn if you destroy me, your foreteller of the hours? How will you know when Orion with his golden bow makes his way through the night? And who will remind you of your morning tasks, when the birds’ feet are wet with dew?” The birdcatcher replied, “I know how useful you are at telling the time. All the same, my friend must have something for supper.” No argument is strong enough to keep a man accustomed to serving his desires from always doing whatever pleases him.