Question

Read the following Fable: “The Crow and the Fountain” and answer the question below. Once, during a long summer drought, a thirsty crow flew over dry fields in search of water. At last, she spotted a marble fountain at the edge of a village square. Delighted, she landed on its edge—but the fountain was nearly empty, holding just a few drops at the bottom.The crow tried to reach the water with her beak, but it was too far down. A pigeon nearby laughed. “Give up,” he said. “That fountain’s been dry all week. Even I couldn’t get a sip.”But the crow was not discouraged. She began picking up small pebbles and dropping them into the fountain. Slowly, the water rose. With patience and effort, the crow was finally able to drink. The pigeon stared in amazement.“You see,” said the crow, “mocking a problem does not solve it. Thinking and doing something about it just might.” How does the setting in “The Crow and the Fountain” most significantly shape the crow’s actions and the fable’s central message?

Answer 1

The setting — a long summer drought and a nearly empty marble fountain in the village square — creates both the problem (urgent water scarcity) and the specific physical constraint (water too low to reach but confined in a vessel). That combination forces the crow to be practical and inventive: she responds to scarcity by dropping pebbles to raise the water level. The public village setting, with the mocking pigeon as a witness, highlights the contrast between ridicule and constructive effort. In short, the drought and the fountain’s form shape the crow’s resourceful action and therefore make the fable’s central message — don’t mock problems; think and act to solve them — meaningful and believable.