The Crow and the Water Bottle
Can Crows Really Use Stones to Drink Water?
Did you know? Scientists have discovered that crows in New Caledonia really do drop stones into a water tube to make the water level rise, so they can drink! This isn't just a fairy tale—it's real crow cleverness. An Aesop's fable from the sixth century BC actually predicted behavior that science only proved more than two thousand years later. Isn't that amazing?
On a hot summer day, the sun hung in the sky like a giant fireball and baked the earth until it shimmered. A clever crow had been flying for a long, long time. Her wings were sore and tired, and her throat was as dry as a desert. The crow searched everywhere for water to drink. She flew over fields and over forests, but she could not find any water. She thought, "I'm so thirsty! If I don't find water soon, I'll die of thirst." The crow's eyes were bright and her feathers were black. She kept flying without giving up, hoping to find even a drop of water.
As she flew and flew, the crow spotted a bottle on the ground. She swooped down quickly and looked closely—there was water in the bottle! The crow was overjoyed, but there wasn't much water. It filled only a small part of the bottle. And the bottle's mouth was small and narrow, so the crow's beak could not reach inside. She tried and tried, but her beak got stuck at the opening, and she simply could not drink the water. The crow paced anxiously around the bottle and thought, "What can I do? The water is right there, but I can't drink it."
The crow tried to push the bottle over. She bumped it with her body and pushed it with her wings, but the bottle was too heavy and would not move at all. Then she tried to peck at the bottle's mouth, hoping to make the opening a little wider, but the mouth was too narrow, and she still could not drink the water. The crow was so tired that she panted for breath. She stopped and looked at the water inside the bottle, feeling very disappointed. She thought, "Will I really never get to drink the water?" But she did not give up. She decided to think of another way.
The crow felt a little discouraged. She sat on the ground and stared at the bottle. Her throat was still very dry, and her body was very tired. But she told herself, "I can't give up. There must be another way." The crow closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and made herself calm down. She began to use her brain and think of a way to solve the problem. She thought, "If the water isn't high enough, then I'll make the water rise a little." But how could she make the water rise? The crow tilted her head and thought hard.
Just then, the crow saw many small stones nearby. He had a bright idea! He thought, "If I drop the stones into the bottle, they will sink to the bottom, and the water will rise!" The crow jumped up happily. He quickly picked up a small stone, ready to try. His heart was full of hope, and he felt sure he could get a drink.
The crow picked up a small stone, aimed at the bottle's mouth, and dropped it in gently. The stone went "plop" and sank to the bottom, and a tiny bubble popped up on the water's surface. The crow looked closely—the water level seemed to rise just a little! He was overjoyed and thought, "It really works! If I drop more stones, the water will rise even higher." So he decided to keep dropping stones.
The crow dropped stones into the bottle one after another. He flew to the side, picked up a stone, flew back to the bottle, and dropped it in. Back and forth, he lost count of how many stones he dropped. The water level in the bottle slowly rose. Watching the water rise bit by bit, the crow felt happier and happier. Though he was a little tired, he kept dropping stones without stopping.
The crow kept dropping stones. His wings grew more and more tired, and his beak hurt a little from picking up the stones. But he told himself, "I can't stop—I'm almost there!" He kept going, stone after stone, until the bottom of the bottle was piled high with stones. The water level kept rising, closer and closer to the bottle's mouth. The crow was very tired, but his determination grew stronger. He believed that as long as he kept trying, he would surely get a drink.
Finally, the water rose to the top of the pitcher! The crow shouted happily, "Hooray! I did it!" He lowered his head, put his beak into the pitcher's mouth, and drank the cool water. It was so sweet and refreshing, soothing his dry throat. The crow drank sip after sip, thinking it was the best water in the world. His heart was full of pride, because he had earned it through his own hard work.
After drinking his fill, the crow flapped his wings contentedly and flew away. He looked back at the pitcher and the little stones on the ground and thought, "With a clever mind and never giving up, you can solve any problem." Just as he hadn't given up when he was thirsty, now he had used his wisdom and determination to get a drink. The crow flew happily into the sky, ready to welcome a new day.
