A Man caught a Jackdaw and tied a piece of string to one of its legs, and then gave it to his children for a pet. But the Jackdaw didn't at all like having to live with people; so, after a while, when he seemed to have become fairly tame and they didn't watch him so closely, he slipped away and flew back to his old haunts. Unfortunately, the string was still on his leg, and before long it got entangled in the branches of a tree and the Jackdaw couldn't get free, try as he would. He saw it was all up with him, and cried in despair, “Alas, in gaining my freedom I have lost my life.”
有一个人抓住了一只寒鸦，把他的腿拴在一根绳子上，让孩子牵着当宠物。寒鸦不喜欢和人一起生活，过了一段时日，他似乎是被驯服了，人们对他看得没有那么紧了，他便偷偷溜走飞回了自己昔日的巢穴。只是很不幸，那根绳子还拴在他的腿上，没多久绳子就缠在了树枝上，寒鸦用尽了办法，但还是无法自由移动。他看到自己了无希望，便绝望地哭着说：“啊呀，我重得了自由，却失去了生命！”