The Swan Who Would Not Mix with Crows

A swan, blown far off course during a storm, found himself stranded near a dry, lakeless village with no water anywhere nearby suitable for his kind. A flock of crows living in the village's trees, curious about the unusual visitor, approached and offered to share their roosting spot and watch over him until he regained his strength.

The swan, proud of his own elegance and privately looking down on the crows as coarse and unrefined company beneath his dignity, refused their offer coldly and insisted on roosting alone in an exposed field, certain he needed no help from creatures he considered so far beneath him.

That very night, a hawk, spotting the lone, unprotected swan in the open field, nearly killed him before the very crows he had scorned raised a defensive alarm and drove the hawk away, saving his life despite his earlier rudeness. Humbled and grateful, the swan finally accepted their company, and stayed among them gratefully until a passing flock of his own kind found him weeks later — having learned that pride in one's own refinement means little when it costs you the protection that only genuine community can provide.