Panchatantra Crows Owls

tale:panchatantra_crows_owls

Crows and owls are sworn enemies; the owls, who see by night, slaughter the crows in the dark. A wise old crow lets his own flock pluck his feathers and feigns being cast out, gains the owls' trust, learns their cave, and leads the crows to heap it with burning wood, destroying the owls as they sleep. Moral: in a war that cannot be won by force, win it by stratagem. — Panchatantra (attrib. Vishnu Sharma)