The Eagle and the Arrow

Name: The Eagle and the Arrow
Author: Aesop (trans. V. S. Vernon Jones, 1912)

Aesop (trans. V. S. Vernon Jones, 1912) B1 Fable

A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.

Level: B1
Genres: Fable
Reading time: 1 min
Languages available: EN, VI, ES, ZH, PT, HI, ID

An eagle is shot and killed by an arrow — and realizes in his final moment that the arrow is feathered with eagle feathers.

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An Eagle sat perched on a lofty rock, keeping a sharp look-out for prey. A huntsman, concealed in a cleft of the mountain and on the watch for game, spied him there and shot an Arrow at him. The shaft struck him full in the breast and pierced him through and through. As he lay in the agonies of death, he turned his eyes upon the Arrow. "Ah! cruel fate!" he cried, "that I should perish thus: but oh! fate more cruel still, that the Arrow which kills me should be winged with an Eagle's feathers!"

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Why was the eagle perched on the lofty rock?
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Answer: To keep a sharp look-out for prey
The story says the eagle 'sat perched on a lofty rock, keeping a sharp look-out for prey.'
Who shot the arrow at the eagle?
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Answer: A hidden huntsman
A 'huntsman, concealed in a cleft of the mountain and on the watch for game, spied him there and shot an Arrow at him.'
What did the eagle realize as he was dying?
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Answer: The arrow killing him was winged with his own eagle feathers
The eagle cried 'that the Arrow which kills me should be winged with an Eagle's feathers!' — meaning he was harmed by his own kind.

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