Once a swan and an owl became friends. They used to spend a lot of good wine together. One day, when the owl went to meet the swan, the swan said, “Dear friend, please wait for me for a while. As you know, I am the leader of the swans and since there is some problem, I must go and solve it. I will be back soon.”
With these words, the swan left the owl by the lakeside. The owl started thinking, “My friend, is the leader of the swans, I may be her friend but I am an ordinary owl. Now somehow, I must prove to her that I also hold some important position. I’ll prove that I am also a king. But how do I do It?”
With these thoughts, the owl flew to a nearby forest. As he flew over the forest, he saw that a king’s hunting party had put up a camp there and they were going to leave that evening. The owl flew back to the lake with a plan in his mind. In the lake, he saw the swan and said, “Dear friend, I want to take you to the forest which is my home. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Why not ?”, the swan said. “I can come there anytime. How about tomorrow?”
“No, no! You must come now,” the owl insisted and the two birds flew to the forest. The owl landed on a tree near the king, hunting these men are my soldiers, we are getting ready for a trip.”
Just then the swan said, “Hey! But they are all leaving without your permission.”
“No! No! They can’t. Wait and see.” Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! the owl cried loudly.
The king’s commander said to the soldiers, “Stop! We can’t leave now. An owl’s hoot is a bad omen.” So, the campers stayed. The owl thought that the swan was convinced that he was the king indeed but the swan realized that the owl was trying to impress her.
The next morning as the camping men were about to leave, the owl hooted as if he was commanding soldiers not to leave, the owl looked at the swan with pride. The swan thought, “Oh! My friend is trying to impress me but I will honour him anyway. Let him be pleased with my cost for a white.”
In the evening, the owl did the same and same the commander stopped the soldiers from leaving the forest. When the same thing happened the next morning the commander was furious. He called one of his soldiers and said, “Soldier, go and find the owl that hoots each time we are about to leave. Then no ill omen will stop our departure.”
The soldier looked around and spotted the owl and the swan. He aimed his arrow at the owl but luck would have it, the arrow hit the swan’s leg and he fell down injured. The owl’s eyes were filled with tears. He said, “Oh! My beloved friend is injured as I tried to put up a false impression. What a fool I’ve been!” “From now I will never boast in future,” said the owl.