The Crow and the Pitcher: Difference between revisions
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==The fable in the applied arts== |
==The fable in the applied arts== |
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Use of the fable may go back to Roman times, since one of the mosaics that has survived is thought to have the story of the crow and the pitcher as its subject.<ref>[http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-19798096/stock-photo-an-ancient-roman-mosaic-possibly-illustrating-aesop-s-fable-of-the-crow-dropping-pebbles-in-the.html There is a photo here]</ref> Modern equivalents have included English tiles from the 18th<ref>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O20458/tile-the-crow-and-the-pitcher A Liverpool tile from 1780]</ref> and 19th centuries<ref>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1171163/tile A Minton tile from 1875]</ref> and an American mural by Justin C. Gruelle (1889-1978), created for a Connecticut school.<ref>There is a photograph of this taken in 1936 in the collection of [http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctarchives/4898651322/in/photostream Connecticut State Library]</ref> These and the illustrations in books of fables had little scope for invention. The greatest variation is in the type of vessel involved and over the centuries these have varied from a humble clay pot to elaborate Greek pitchers.<ref>[http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=38299630%40N05&q=cornix+et+urna&m=text See Laura Gibbs' collection of these]</ref> More modern applications have included a rug<ref>http://people.umass.edu/smadison/hooking/images/crow_pitcher.jpg</ref> and a card-game.<ref>http://www.thecrowandthepitcher.com/game.html</ref> |
Use of the fable may go back to Roman times, since one of the mosaics that has survived is thought to have the story of the crow and the pitcher as its subject.<ref>[http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-19798096/stock-photo-an-ancient-roman-mosaic-possibly-illustrating-aesop-s-fable-of-the-crow-dropping-pebbles-in-the.html There is a photo here]</ref> Modern equivalents have included English tiles from the 18th<ref>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O20458/tile-the-crow-and-the-pitcher A Liverpool tile from 1780]</ref> and 19th centuries<ref>[http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1171163/tile A Minton tile from 1875]</ref> and an American mural by Justin C. Gruelle (1889-1978), created for a Connecticut school.<ref>There is a photograph of this taken in 1936 in the collection of [http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctarchives/4898651322/in/photostream Connecticut State Library]</ref> These and the illustrations in books of fables had little scope for invention. The greatest variation is in the type of vessel involved and over the centuries these have varied from a humble clay pot to elaborate Greek pitchers.<ref>[http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=38299630%40N05&q=cornix+et+urna&m=text See Laura Gibbs' collection of these]</ref> More modern applications have included a rug<ref>http://people.umass.edu/smadison/hooking/images/crow_pitcher.jpg</ref> and a card-game.<ref>http://www.thecrowandthepitcher.com/game.html</ref> |
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==The fable in science== |
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The ethologist Nicola Clayton, taking the fable as a starting point,<ref>{{cite web|last=Clayton|first=Nicola|title=Cognition in birds (transcript)|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/cognition-in-birds/3695302|work=Science Show|publisher=ABC Radio National|accessdate=15 December 2011}}</ref> found that [[Corvidae|corvids]] are indeed capable of the thinking demonstrated in the fable.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cheke|first=Lucy G.|coauthors=Bird, Christopher D., Clayton, Nicola S.|title=Tool-use and instrumental learning in the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)|journal=Animal Cognition|date=19 January 2011|volume=14|issue=3|pages=441–455|doi=10.1007/s10071-011-0379-4|url=http://cambridge.academia.edu/LucyCheke/Papers/402906/Tool_Use_and_Instrumental_Learning_in_the_Eurasian_Jay|accessdate=15 December 2011}}</ref> [[Eurasian Jay]]s were able to drop stones into a pitcher of water to make the water level rise. Further research established that the birds understood that the pitcher must contain liquid rather than a solid for the trick to work, and that the objects dropped in must sink rather than float. The findings have advanced knowledge of [[bird intelligence]]; the Eurasian jay had not been scientifically observed to use tools either in the wild or in captivity before. The research also indicated that physical cognition evolved earlier in the corvid family than previously thought as the not closely-related crows and ravens were already known to score highly on intelligence tests, with certain species topping the [[avian IQ]] scale<ref>{{cite news|last=Rincon |first=Paul |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4286965.stm |title=Science/Nature | Crows and jays top bird IQ scale |publisher=BBC News |date=2005-02-22 |accessdate=2011-11-12}}</ref>, and tool use well-documented.<ref>{{cite book|author=Shettleworth, Sara J.|title=Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780195319842|pages=3–4|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-Qs1qGys0AwC&pg=PA3}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 18:27, 15 December 2011
The Crow and the Pitcher is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 390 in the Perry Index. It is found in the 2nd century CE Greek fable collection by pseudo-Dositheus,[1] and later appears in the 4th–5th century Latin verse collection by Avianus.[2] The history of this fable in antiquity and the Middle Ages is tracked in A.E. Wright's Hie lert uns der meister: Latin Commentary and the Germany Fable.[3]
In the fable, a thirsty crow comes upon a pitcher with water at the bottom, beyond the reach of its beak. After failing to push over the pitcher, it drops in pebbles, one by one, until the water rises to the top of the pitcher, allowing the crow to drink. Avianus follows the fable with a moral that emphasises the virtue of ingenuity: "This fable shows us that thoughtfulness is superior to brute strength." Other tellers of the story stress the crow's persistence, while Francis Barlow's edition concludes with the proverb "Necessity is the mother of invention.[4]
In its earliest attestation in Pliny, this story is related of real-life corvids. More recently, a group of biologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has reported that orangutans could retrieve peanuts from plastic tubes by spitting water into them. The researchers were quoted as drawing a parallel between their findings and the fable.[5] In August 2009, a study published in Current Biology revealed that rooks, a relative of crows, do just the same as the crow in the fable when presented with a similar situation.[6]
The fable in the applied arts
Use of the fable may go back to Roman times, since one of the mosaics that has survived is thought to have the story of the crow and the pitcher as its subject.[7] Modern equivalents have included English tiles from the 18th[8] and 19th centuries[9] and an American mural by Justin C. Gruelle (1889-1978), created for a Connecticut school.[10] These and the illustrations in books of fables had little scope for invention. The greatest variation is in the type of vessel involved and over the centuries these have varied from a humble clay pot to elaborate Greek pitchers.[11] More modern applications have included a rug[12] and a card-game.[13]
The fable in science
The ethologist Nicola Clayton, taking the fable as a starting point,[14] found that corvids are indeed capable of the thinking demonstrated in the fable.[15] Eurasian Jays were able to drop stones into a pitcher of water to make the water level rise. Further research established that the birds understood that the pitcher must contain liquid rather than a solid for the trick to work, and that the objects dropped in must sink rather than float. The findings have advanced knowledge of bird intelligence; the Eurasian jay had not been scientifically observed to use tools either in the wild or in captivity before. The research also indicated that physical cognition evolved earlier in the corvid family than previously thought as the not closely-related crows and ravens were already known to score highly on intelligence tests, with certain species topping the avian IQ scale[16], and tool use well-documented.[17]
References
- ^ Ben Edwin Perry (1965). Babrius and Phaedrus. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 493–494, no. 390. ISBN 0-674-99480-9.
- ^ Avianus 27 (Latin, English). Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
- ^ Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2001, pp. 4-46
- ^ http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/barlow/39.htm}
- ^ Charles Q. Choi (July 11, 2007). "Clever Apes Recreate an Aesop Fable". LiveScience. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ^ An abstract
- ^ There is a photo here
- ^ A Liverpool tile from 1780
- ^ A Minton tile from 1875
- ^ There is a photograph of this taken in 1936 in the collection of Connecticut State Library
- ^ See Laura Gibbs' collection of these
- ^ http://people.umass.edu/smadison/hooking/images/crow_pitcher.jpg
- ^ http://www.thecrowandthepitcher.com/game.html
- ^ Clayton, Nicola. "Cognition in birds (transcript)". Science Show. ABC Radio National. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ Cheke, Lucy G. (19 January 2011). "Tool-use and instrumental learning in the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)". Animal Cognition. 14 (3): 441–455. doi:10.1007/s10071-011-0379-4. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Rincon, Paul (2005-02-22). "Science/Nature | Crows and jays top bird IQ scale". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Shettleworth, Sara J. (2010). Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior. Oxford University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780195319842.
External links
- 15th-20th century illustrations from books