The Peacock's Complaint

A fable retold from Harrison Weir's Favourite Fables

This fable comes from Favourite Fables in Prose and Verse, a collection by Harrison Weir, a Victorian writer and illustrator. The story is in the tradition of Aesop's fables, tales that teach lessons about life through animal characters. In this fable, Peacock learns from the goddess Juno that every creature has a special gift, and happiness comes from loving what makes you unique instead of wishing for what others have. Weir's collection brought these timeless stories to children in the 1800s, and they still matter today because every child needs to know that who they are is enough.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 392 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Favourite Fables in Prose and Verse, Harrison Weir · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.