The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
Encyclopedia
The Bird in Borrowed Feathers is a fable of Classical Greek origin usually ascribed to Aesop
. It has existed in numerous different versions between that time and the Middle Ages
, going by various titles and generally involving members of the corvid
family. The lesson to be learned from it has also varied, depending on the context in which it was told. The common European idiom 'to dress oneself in borrowed plumes' derives from the fable.
. It concerns a daw or crow that dresses itself in the feathers of other birds before competing against them, only to have them recognised and stripped away by their owners; in some versions all its own feathers are also torn away. The lesson to be learned is that borrowed finery brings humiliation.
The second version stems from the Latin collection of Phaedrus and is numbered 472 in the Perry Index. In this a jackdaw (or jay in Caxton's telling) that has found some peacock feathers and stuck them among its own, looks down on its kind and joins the peacocks. When they realise the intruder is not one of themselves, they attack it, stripping away the borrowed finery and leaving its so dishevelled that it is afterwards rejected by its fellows. The moral of the story is not to reach above one's station.
Some mediaeval versions have different details. In Odo of Cheriton
's telling the crow is ashamed of its ugliness and is advised by the eagle to borrow feathers from the other birds, but when it starts to insult them the eagle suggests that the birds reclaim their feathers. Froissart's Chronicles
have a certain Friar John advising church leaders that their possessions depend on temporal rulers and illustrating the lesson with a story of a bird that is born featherless until all the other birds decide to furnish it with some of their own. When it starts to act too proudly, they threaten to take their feathers back.
While all of these address themselves to various kinds of pride, the story has also been used to satirise literary plagiarists
. In one of his Epistles, the Roman poet Horace
alludes to the Greek version of the fable when referring to the poet Celsus, who is advised not to borrow from others ‘lest, if it chance that the flock of birds should some time or other come to demand their feathers, he, like the daw stripped of his stolen colors, be exposed to ridicule.’ It was in this sense too that the young William Shakespeare
was attacked by the elder playwright Richard Greene
as ‘an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers’.
When Jean de la Fontaine
adapted the story in his Fables Choisies (IV.9), it was the Latin version of a bird disguised as a peacock that he chose, but he followed Horace in applying it to 'The human jay: the shameless plagiarist'. The very free version of John Matthews
, his English translator, develops the suggestion much further:
However, when La Fontaine's fable was rewritten to fit a popular air in the 18th century Nouvelles Poésies Spirituelles et Morales sur les plus beaux airs, its focus was changed to dressing above one’s station.
It is the Latin version too that lies behind the popular idiom 'to adorn oneself (or strut) in borrowed plumes', used against empty pretensions. This is made more obvious by the reference to peacock feathers in the Italian equivalent, Vestirsi con le penne del pavone.
In the 17th century, when paintings were popular home decorations but had to be justified by carrying a moral message, the Dutch artist Melchior d'Hondecoeter
executed at least two of the Greek version of the fable in which many species of bird attack the daw.
Most illustrations of La Fontaine's fables, with their three or four peacocks bending to reclaim their plumes from the jay, show lack of originality. This is true even of Kano Tomo-nobou's Japanese woodcut version published from Tokyo in 1894. The most lively treatments of the theme are in political cartoons celebrating the defeat of Napoleon, in which feathered kings and emperors snatch away his finery. There was a slightly earlier Japanese woodprint by Kawanabe Kyosai
in his Isoho Monogotari series (1870-80) which shows peacocks attacking a prostrate crow. In general the artist was dependent on John Tenniel
's illustrations of the fables for his interpretations, but in this case the print is similar to the picture in the Croxall edition of 1814.
There is an amusing nod in the fable's direction in Amelia Bauerle
's etching "Fine feathers make fine birds" in The Yellow Book. Although the proverb is an alternative for 'Clothes make the man', the benignant wallpaper peacock bending over the little girl as she shows off her plumed hat suggests that it might pluck away the feathers if it had a mind to. The print suggests the relationship between the proverb, which focuses on reputation gained by presentation rather than merit, and the idiom 'dressed in borrowed plumes', which draws attention to another fraudulent aspect of reputation.
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
. It has existed in numerous different versions between that time and the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, going by various titles and generally involving members of the corvid
Corvidae
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs and nutcrackers. The common English names used are corvids or the crow family , and there are over 120 species...
family. The lesson to be learned from it has also varied, depending on the context in which it was told. The common European idiom 'to dress oneself in borrowed plumes' derives from the fable.
The main variations
While the details of the fable have always been varied, two main versions have been transmitted to European cultures in modern times. The first of these is mostly found in Greek sources and numbered 101 in the Perry IndexPerry Index
The Perry Index is a widely-used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC...
. It concerns a daw or crow that dresses itself in the feathers of other birds before competing against them, only to have them recognised and stripped away by their owners; in some versions all its own feathers are also torn away. The lesson to be learned is that borrowed finery brings humiliation.
The second version stems from the Latin collection of Phaedrus and is numbered 472 in the Perry Index. In this a jackdaw (or jay in Caxton's telling) that has found some peacock feathers and stuck them among its own, looks down on its kind and joins the peacocks. When they realise the intruder is not one of themselves, they attack it, stripping away the borrowed finery and leaving its so dishevelled that it is afterwards rejected by its fellows. The moral of the story is not to reach above one's station.
Some mediaeval versions have different details. In Odo of Cheriton
Odo of Cheriton
Odo of Cheriton was a Roman Catholic preacher and fabulist.He visited Paris, and it was probably there that he gained the degree of Master...
's telling the crow is ashamed of its ugliness and is advised by the eagle to borrow feathers from the other birds, but when it starts to insult them the eagle suggests that the birds reclaim their feathers. Froissart's Chronicles
Froissart's Chronicles
Froissart's Chronicles was written in French by Jean Froissart. It covers the years 1322 until 1400 and describes the conditions that created the Hundred Years' War and the first fifty years of the conflict...
have a certain Friar John advising church leaders that their possessions depend on temporal rulers and illustrating the lesson with a story of a bird that is born featherless until all the other birds decide to furnish it with some of their own. When it starts to act too proudly, they threaten to take their feathers back.
While all of these address themselves to various kinds of pride, the story has also been used to satirise literary plagiarists
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
. In one of his Epistles, the Roman poet Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
alludes to the Greek version of the fable when referring to the poet Celsus, who is advised not to borrow from others ‘lest, if it chance that the flock of birds should some time or other come to demand their feathers, he, like the daw stripped of his stolen colors, be exposed to ridicule.’ It was in this sense too that the young William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
was attacked by the elder playwright Richard Greene
Richard Greene
Richard Marius Joseph Greene was a noted English film and television actor. A matinee idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1960.It has been...
as ‘an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers’.
When Jean de la Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
adapted the story in his Fables Choisies (IV.9), it was the Latin version of a bird disguised as a peacock that he chose, but he followed Horace in applying it to 'The human jay: the shameless plagiarist'. The very free version of John Matthews
John Matthews (physician)
John Matthews was a versatile English physician and poet, also involved in local affairs and politics in Herefordshire.-Life:Baptised 30 October 1755, he was the only surviving child of William Matthews of Burton, in Linton, Herefordshire, who died 29 August 1799, by his wife Jane, daughter of...
, his English translator, develops the suggestion much further:
-
-
- If you closely examine the men of the quill
- And search for goods stolen with sharp piercing eyes,
- Taking these from the pages their volumes which fill,
- Huge quartos would shrink to a very small size.
-
However, when La Fontaine's fable was rewritten to fit a popular air in the 18th century Nouvelles Poésies Spirituelles et Morales sur les plus beaux airs, its focus was changed to dressing above one’s station.
It is the Latin version too that lies behind the popular idiom 'to adorn oneself (or strut) in borrowed plumes', used against empty pretensions. This is made more obvious by the reference to peacock feathers in the Italian equivalent, Vestirsi con le penne del pavone.
Artistic use
Melchior d'Hondecoeter
Melchior d'Hondecoeter , Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landscapes...
executed at least two of the Greek version of the fable in which many species of bird attack the daw.
Most illustrations of La Fontaine's fables, with their three or four peacocks bending to reclaim their plumes from the jay, show lack of originality. This is true even of Kano Tomo-nobou's Japanese woodcut version published from Tokyo in 1894. The most lively treatments of the theme are in political cartoons celebrating the defeat of Napoleon, in which feathered kings and emperors snatch away his finery. There was a slightly earlier Japanese woodprint by Kawanabe Kyosai
Kawanabe Kyosai
was a Japanese artist, in the words of a critic, "an individualist and an independent, perhaps the last virtuoso in traditional Japanese painting"....
in his Isoho Monogotari series (1870-80) which shows peacocks attacking a prostrate crow. In general the artist was dependent on John Tenniel
John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...
's illustrations of the fables for his interpretations, but in this case the print is similar to the picture in the Croxall edition of 1814.
There is an amusing nod in the fable's direction in Amelia Bauerle
Amelia Bauerle
Amelia Bauerle was a London-born painter, illustrator and etcher who was also known as Amelia Bowerley. She was the daughter of the German artist Karl Wilhelm Bauerle. She studied at the South Kensington School of Art and the Slade before travelling in Italy and Germany...
's etching "Fine feathers make fine birds" in The Yellow Book. Although the proverb is an alternative for 'Clothes make the man', the benignant wallpaper peacock bending over the little girl as she shows off her plumed hat suggests that it might pluck away the feathers if it had a mind to. The print suggests the relationship between the proverb, which focuses on reputation gained by presentation rather than merit, and the idiom 'dressed in borrowed plumes', which draws attention to another fraudulent aspect of reputation.
External Links
- 6 illustrations from books between the 17th-20th centuries at the Victoria & Albert Museum
- Illustrations from books between the 15th-17th centuries
- Illustrations from books between the 15th-20th centuries