The Crow and the Pitcher
Brute force is no substitute for quick thinking.
As the old military maxim goes, Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted.
AN extremely thirsty crow stumbled across a pitcher, and when she peered inside she found that it was half-filled with water. But the neck was very narrow, and try as she might she could neither reach the water with her beak, nor summon up sufficient force to tip the pitcher on its side.
This particular crow, however, was nothing if not resourceful. After a few moments to reason it all out, she started to drop little stones into the urn, one by one. The water rose higher and higher with each pebble, and eventually the crow was able to dip her beak into the brimming pitcher and quench her thirst.*
And the moral of that is, that brain is better than brawn.
* Plutarch (49-119+) in his Moralia admitted that he could not imagine the ordinary Libyan crow doing such a thing. “Then again,” he added thoughtfully, “when I saw a ship dog, in the absence of the seamen, putting in stones in a half-empty jar of oil, it was to me a wonder how that dog should understand that the pressure of the heavier weight would make the lighter rise.”
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why could the thirsty crow not drink from the pitcher?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The pitcher was not full. The crow was disappointed. She could not reach the water.