Learn English with Fables

The Crow and the Pitcher 🐦🏺

Aprende inglés con una fábula clásica de Esopo. Practica el pasado simple, los verbos modales, los conectores narrativos y el vocabulario.

Nivel recomendado A2–B1

Tema Creatividad y perseverancia

Habilidades Reading, grammar y vocabulary

📖 The Story

During a period of dry weather, the birds could find very little water to drink.

One day, a thirsty crow found a pitcher with a small amount of water inside it.

However, the pitcher was tall and had a narrow neck. No matter how hard the crow tried, he could not reach the water.

The poor crow felt as if he might die of thirst.

Then he had an idea. He picked up some small pebbles and dropped them into the pitcher one by one.

With each pebble, the water rose a little higher. At last, the water was close enough for the crow to drink.

Moral:
Necessity is the mother of invention.

La necesidad es la madre de la invención.

🇪🇸 Traducción al español

Durante un periodo de tiempo seco, las aves podían encontrar muy poca agua para beber.

Un día, un cuervo sediento encontró una jarra con una pequeña cantidad de agua en su interior.

Sin embargo, la jarra era alta y tenía un cuello estrecho. Por mucho que el cuervo lo intentaba, no podía alcanzar el agua.

El pobre cuervo sintió que podría morir de sed.

Entonces tuvo una idea. Recogió algunas piedritas y las dejó caer dentro de la jarra una por una.

Con cada piedra, el agua subía un poco más. Finalmente, el agua quedó lo suficientemente cerca para que el cuervo pudiera beber.

🧠 Grammar Focus

1. Past simple

La historia utiliza principalmente el past simple porque describe acciones terminadas en el pasado.

Subject + verb in the past

The crow found a pitcher.
He had an idea.
The water rose higher.

try → tried
drop → dropped
pick → picked

find → found
have → had
feel → felt
rise → rose

2. Could and could not

Could se utiliza para hablar de capacidad o posibilidad en el pasado.

Subject + could + base verb

The birds could find very little water.
Las aves podían encontrar muy poca agua.

La forma negativa es could not o couldn’t.

The crow could not reach the water.
El cuervo no podía alcanzar el agua.

Después de could, el verbo siempre va en su forma base:

Correct: He could drink.
Incorrect: He could drank.

3. No matter how

La expresión no matter how significa sin importar cuánto o por mucho que.

No matter how hard the crow tried, he could not reach the water.
Por mucho que el cuervo lo intentaba, no podía alcanzar el agua.

4. As if

As if significa como si. Se utiliza para describir una impresión o una situación imaginaria.

The crow felt as if he might die of thirst.
El cuervo sintió como si pudiera morir de sed.

5. Might

Might expresa posibilidad. Significa podría o quizás.

Subject + might + base verb

The crow thought he might die of thirst.
El cuervo pensó que podría morir de sed.

6. Picking up...

La forma terminada en -ing puede utilizarse para mostrar una acción relacionada con la acción principal.

Picking up some small pebbles, the crow dropped them into the pitcher.
Recogiendo algunas piedritas, el cuervo las dejó caer dentro de la jarra.

También puede decirse de una forma más sencilla:

The crow picked up some pebbles and dropped them into the pitcher.

7. One by one

One by one significa uno por uno.

He dropped the pebbles into the pitcher one by one.
Dejó caer las piedras dentro de la jarra una por una.

8. With each...

La estructura with each indica que algo cambia cada vez que ocurre una acción.

With each pebble, the water rose higher.
Con cada piedra, el agua subía más.

9. Enough + infinitive

Enough significa suficiente. Cuando va después de un adjetivo, puede acompañarse de un infinitivo.

adjective + enough + to + verb

The water was close enough to drink.
El agua estaba lo suficientemente cerca para beber.

The pitcher was not low enough to reach.
La jarra no era lo suficientemente baja para alcanzarla.

10. Very little

Very little se utiliza con sustantivos incontables para expresar una cantidad muy pequeña.

There was very little water in the pitcher.
Había muy poca agua en la jarra.

Water es incontable, por eso usamos little, no few.

very little water ✅
very few water ❌

📚 Key Vocabulary

English	Español	Example
crow	cuervo	The crow was very thirsty.
pitcher	jarra	There was water inside the pitcher.
jug	jarra	The jug had a narrow neck.
thirsty	sediento	The thirsty crow looked for water.
dry weather	tiempo seco	There was very little water during the dry weather.
narrow	estrecho	The pitcher had a narrow neck.
neck	cuello	The bottle has a long neck.
pebble	piedrita / guijarro	The crow picked up a pebble.
to reach	alcanzar	He could not reach the water.
to drop	dejar caer	He dropped the stones into the pitcher.
to rise	subir / elevarse	The water rose slowly.
thirst	sed	The crow was suffering from thirst.
invention	invención	Necessity can lead to invention.
necessity	necesidad	Necessity encouraged the crow to think.

💬 Useful Expressions

To die of thirst

Significa morir por falta de agua.

The crow thought he might die of thirst.
El cuervo pensó que podría morir de sed.

To have an idea

Significa tener una idea.

Suddenly, the crow had an idea.
De repente, el cuervo tuvo una idea.

To pick something up

Significa recoger o levantar algo.

The crow picked up a small pebble.
El cuervo recogió una pequeña piedra.

At last

Significa finalmente o por fin.

At last, the crow could drink.
Por fin, el cuervo pudo beber.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Esta expresión significa que las dificultades pueden motivarnos a crear soluciones nuevas.

When people face difficult problems, they often become more creative. That is why we say: necessity is the mother of invention.

🔎 Reading Comprehension

1. Why was the crow thirsty?
2. What did the crow find?
3. Why could he not reach the water?
4. What idea did the crow have?
5. What happened when he dropped the pebbles into the pitcher?
6. What is the moral of the story?

Ver las respuestas

1. He was thirsty because there was very little water during the dry weather.
2. He found a pitcher with a small amount of water.
3. The pitcher was tall and had a narrow neck.
4. He decided to drop small pebbles into the pitcher.
5. The water rose higher.
6. Necessity is the mother of invention.

✏️ Grammar Practice

Completa las oraciones con la forma correcta de las palabras entre paréntesis.

1. The crow a pitcher. (find)
2. He could not the water. (reach)
3. The crow some small pebbles. (pick up)
4. He them into the pitcher. (drop)
5. The water higher. (rise)
6. The water was close enough . (drink)

Ver las respuestas

1. found
2. reach
3. picked up
4. dropped
5. rose
6. to drink

🧩 Choose the Correct Option

1. The crow was thirsty / hungry.
2. The pitcher had a narrow / wide neck.
3. The crow could not reach / reached the water.
4. He dropped the pebbles one by one / one for one.
5. With each pebble, the water rose / raised.

Ver las respuestas

1. thirsty
2. narrow
3. reach
4. one by one
5. rose

🗣️ Speaking and Writing Practice

Responde las siguientes preguntas en inglés:

1. Do you think the crow was intelligent?
2. Why did the crow’s idea work?
3. What would you have done in the same situation?
4. Can difficult situations make people more creative?
5. Can you describe a problem that you solved creatively?

Example:

I think the crow was intelligent and patient. He did not give up when he could not reach the water. Instead, he observed the problem and found a creative solution.

📝 Write Your Own Summary

One day, a thirsty crow __________________________________.

He found a pitcher, but _________________________________.

Then he had an idea and _________________________________.

With each pebble, _______________________________________.

Finally, the crow _______________________________________.

The moral of the story is _______________________________.

Final thought:

Intelligence is not only knowing the answer. It is also finding a new way when the obvious solution does not work. 🐦🏺✨