Public domain
Fable of the Kestrel and the Cuckoo
From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
A birdcatcher has caught a kestrel in his net. In a tree, a cuckoo sits with a worm in its beak. The fable describes how a kestrel mocks a cuckoo for eating worms. The kestrel is then caught in a net by a farmer and must pay for stealing his chickens. The moral of the story teaches that a frugal lifestyle is better than excess.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own descriptionCredit lineFabel van de kiekendief en de koekoek. 1608. Aegidius Sadeler (II). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.
