the thirsty crow experiment (learn English through stories)

Tom, Alex, Mia, and Olivia lived in the same colony. They went to school on the same bus and played together in the evenings. Tom and Alex studies in the first standard. Mia and Olivia were in the second standard.

One day Tom and Alex's teacher told them the story of 'the thirsty Crow' in class.

A clever crow drops small stones inside a water jug, to raise the level of water in it so that he can reach it and quench his thirst.

On their way back home, in the bus, Tom asked Alex, "Crows often come to the roof of your house, don't they?"

"Yes, I give them grains, biscuits, and a piece of bread. I also put a vessel with water in it.

And not just crows, many birds like mynahs, parrots and sparrows also come," said Alex,

"Shall we see today's story played out for real then?" said Tom, excitedly.

"What do you mean?" asked Alex confused.

"What kind of a vessel do you use to put the water for the birds?" asked Tom.

"I use a shallow, wide and short vessel so that the birds can reach the water easily. I put fresh water in it every day," said Alex.

"Why don't we use a deep vessel with a narrow tip, so the crows will have to put songs in it to raise the water level and then drink? We'll hide and watch the whole thing. It'll be fun!" said Tom.

Alex agreed-- he too was excited. That evening, the removed the usual water vessel and used an old soft drink bottle instead.

They put a little water in it and placed it on the rooftop. Then they hind and watched.

The birds came and are the crumbs. A crow sat on the bottle. But due to the crow's weight, the bottle tumbled over and the water spilled over. A few small birds drank the spilled water, but the crow could not drink it. It flew away without having water. alex and Tom were disappointed.

The next day, they placed bricks around the bottle so that it would not fall. The birds came, as usual, ate the crumbs, sat on the bottle, looked around for a while and then flew away without drinking water.

the boys were disappointed again.

The next day, Mia and Olivia asked the, "Why aren't the two of you coming to play in the evening for the last two days?"

Alex and Tom told them everything.

Olivia said, "you're such fools! The bottle you've used has such a narrow opening that even a stone won't go through. 


In the story, there was a jug. I have one at home. I'll get it in the evening. We'll see how the crows raise the water level."

Tom and Alex were excited to observe the crows all over again.

"That evening, Olivia and Mia both came to Alex's house. Olivia had brought the jug and Mia had brought small stones so that the crows would not have to search for them. They just wanted to see him raise the level of water.

A little water was put inside the jug, and the stones too were kept nearby.

they kept several delicious crumbs of cakes, biscuits, rolls and other snakes to attract the birds.

The four of them hid behind the door and watched.

Within minutes, the birds came and ate up all the crumbs kept for them.

One crow sat on the jug of water for a while and then flew away

Not even a single bird touched the stones kept nearby.

all four children were now disappointed. they could neither concentrate on playing nor on studying.

The next day, Alex's mom asked him, "Why have you kept stones and jug of water on the roof? Where's the vessel in which we keep water for the birds?

Instead, nowadays you don't seem to be eating or studying properly. What's on your mind?"

Alex told her the whole story.

Alex's mom smiled at his innocence. She called all the children and explained.

"In the story, it was summertime, and the crow had flown a long distance. He was extremely thirsty and there was no sign of water for as far as he could see.

That's the reason why the crow took the trouble to put stones inside the jug. Here, there's water available on somebody or the other's rooftop.

So the crows simply fly somewhere else to drink water when they are thirsty."

the four friends finally understood their mistake. they replaced the jug with the original vessel and filled it with fresh water so the birds would not have to go look for water elsewhere.

THE END