Long, long ago, in a thick forest, there lived a clever crow.
It was the height of summer. The sun blazed down and it had not rained in many days. The crow was very thirsty.
He flew here and there, looking for water. The river had dried up. The pond was muddy. The leaves on the trees had wilted.
Flying on, the crow spotted a clay pot sitting outside a house. He swooped down happily.
But when he dipped his beak inside, the water was far too low. His beak could not reach it.
The crow thought — 'There is water in here, but I cannot reach it. What do I do?'
A weaker bird would have given up and flown away. But this crow was clever. He closed his eyes and sat very still, thinking.
Then his eyes fell on a scatter of pebbles lying nearby. An idea lit up in his mind.
He picked up the pebbles one by one and dropped them into the pot. One pebble. Two pebbles. Ten pebbles. Twenty pebbles.
With every pebble that went in, the water crept a little higher. Little by little, the water rose all the way to the mouth of the pot.
The crow dipped his beak and drank the sweet, cool water. His thirst was gone. His heart was glad.