The Kite and the Eagle

The Kite and the Eagle. When the eagle sadly settled down on a tree where the kite was perched, the kite said to her, "Why do I see you looking so sad?" The eagle replied, "How could I not be sick at heart when I look for an equal to be my husband but cannot find him." The kite said, "Take me, because I am more than your equal, just what you are looking for." The eagle said, "So what are you able to catch when you go hunting?" The kite said, "I've often caught an ostrich with my talons and gobbled it up." When the eagle heard this she assented and accepted the kite as her husband. After the time dedicated to the marriage festivities had passed, the eagle said to him, "Go and get us some prey." But the high-flying kite could only offer her a big fat dormouse which was completely rotten and putrid. The eagle said, "Is this what you promised me?" The kite replied, "In order to present myself to you as the best possible husband, even if you had made completely impossible demands, I would have agreed to fulfill them no matter what."

Milvus et Aquila. Aquila cum tristis sederet in arborem, ubi Milvus insederat, dixit ad eam Milvus, "Cur video faciem tuam tam tristem?" At illa, "Quomodo aegra non ero, quia quaero parilem coniugii mei et reperire non possum." Cui Milvus, "Me accipe, quia superior te 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, omni enim erat 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."

Notes. This is Ademar 67, which is Perry 574 in Perry's classification scheme. I think this fable is hilarious! It just goes to show that long before Internet dating, all kinds of false misrepresentations could be made, with disastrous results for the trusting and unsuspecting partner.