A RAVEN saw a snowy Swan floating on the lake.
“No wonder the Swan is so white,” thought the Raven, as he looked at
his own black feathers. “I dare say _I_ should be, if I were all the
time washing myself. I believe I’ll try it.”
Then he left his home, where he always found plenty to eat, and came
and lived by the lake. He washed himself from morning till night, but
he grew no whiter; and, as he found nothing to eat, he came near dying
for want of food.