alnahn’asca’resdul
Fable Twelve
The Crow and the Netch
ne day a curious crow decided to fly farther than he ever flew before.
²He flew and flew and finally came upon a creature that he found very strange.
³“Friend!” he called as he flew by the creature. “Friend, what is it that you are? I have never seen a flying beast such as you!”
⁴“They call me a netch,” the good netch replied.
⁵“A netch! A netch! That’s quite the catch!” the crow cackled. “Tell me, netch, how is it that you fly?”
⁶“I’ve flown these shores since I was born,” the netch replied. “I do not know how.”
⁷“Don’t know, don’t know, oh what a show!” the crow called out. “Where are your glossy feathers that help you glide?”
⁸“I have no need of feathers to glide,” the netch explained, “but I have a strong, thick hide to protect me.”
⁹“A hide! A hide! Oh, what a find,” the crow mocked. “Tell me netch, where are your eyes?”
¹⁰“I need no eyes to sail the skies, as you can plainly see,” the netch once more replied.
¹¹“No eyes, no eyes, to sail the skies!” the prideful crow continued. “But it makes you far uglier than I!” ¹²And he began to laugh at the netch’s misfortune.
The crow’s laughter grew louder and louder, eventually attracting a nearby cliff-racer. ¹³The beast swooped down upon the crow, swallowing him whole, and he could mock the netch no more.
¹⁴The netch simply sighed and said,
“Mocking others is for naught, for none can change their own weakness.”