A Kite brags to an Eagle in order to woo the Eagle. The Eagle weds the Kite and then asks the Kite to demonstrate the truth of the tale. It was a lie.
Some people will do anything to get what they want.
Aesop For Children
An Eagle sat high in the branches of a great Oak. She seemed very sad and drooping for an Eagle. A Kite saw her.
“Why do you look so woebegone?” asked the Kite.
“I want to get married,” replied the Eagle, “and I can’t find a mate who can provide for me as I should like.”
“Take me,” said the Kite; “I am very strong, stronger even than you!”
“Do you really think you can provide for me?” asked the Eagle eagerly.
“Why, of course,” replied the Kite. “That would be a very simple matter. I am so strong I can carry away an Ostrich in my talons as if it were a feather!”
The Eagle accepted the Kite immediately. But after the wedding, when the Kite flew away to find something to eat for his bride, all he had when he returned, was a tiny Mouse.
“Is that the Ostrich you talked about?” said the Eagle in disgust.
“To win you I would have said and promised anything,” replied the Kite.
Moral
Everything is fair in love.
Townsend version
An eagle, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a tree in company with a Kite. “Why,” said the Kite, “do I see you with such a rueful look?’ “I seek,” she replied, “a mate suitable for me, and am not able to find one.” “Take me,” returned the Kite, “I am much stronger than you are.” “Why, are you able to secure the means of living by your plunder?’ “Well, I have often caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons.” The Eagle, persuaded by these words, accepted him as her mate. Shortly after the nuptials, the Eagle said, “Fly off and bring me back the ostrich you promised me.” The Kite, soaring aloft into the air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the length of time it had lain about the fields. “Is this,” said the Eagle, “the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?’ The Kite replied, “That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must fail in the performance.”
Milvus et Aquila
Cum aquila tristis sederet in arborem ubi milvus insederat, dixit ad eam milvus, “Cur video faciem tuam tam tristem?” At illa, “Quomodo aegra non ero? Quaero parilem coniugium et reperire non possum.” Cui milvus, “Me accipe, quia sum ut quaeris.” Cui aquila, “Quid ergo venari tu poteris?” Milvus, “Struthionem unguibus meis captum saepius devoravi.” Illa, haec audiens, adquievit et accepit eum in coniugio maritali. Transactoque tempore quod nuptiis fuerat dedicatum, dixit ei aquila, “Vade, et rape nobis praedam.” Et volans in altum exhibuit ei immanissimum soricem, putredine madefactum. Cui aquila, “Haec est promissio tua?” Cui milvus, “Ego ut ad tuum potissimum pervenire possem coniugium, si qua mihi impossibilia voluisses extorquere, nullatenus me tibi impleturum potui denegare.”
Perry #574