AN OWL, in her wisdom, counseled the Birds that when the acorn first
began to sprout, to pull it all up out of the ground and not allow it
to grow. She said acorns would produce mistletoe, from which an
irremediable poison, the bird-lime, would be extracted and by which
they would be captured. The Owl next advised them to pluck up the seed
of the flax, which men had sown, as it was a plant which boded no good
to them. And, lastly, the Owl, seeing an archer approach, predicted
that this man, being on foot, would contrive darts armed with feathers
which would fly faster than the wings of the Birds themselves. The
Birds gave no credence to these warning words, but considered the Owl
to be beside herself and said that she was mad. But afterwards, finding
her words were true, they wondered at her knowledge and deemed her to
be the wisest of birds. Hence it is that when she appears they look to
her as knowing all things, while she no longer gives them advice, but
in solitude laments their past folly.