Do the Clothes Make the Man?

“The Clothes Make the Man” is an idiom. What do you think it means? Do you agree with it?

The Show-off Sparrow

A long time ago the leader of the bird kingdom, the eagle, invited all the birds to a big party. After the party started, the sparrows noticed one poor, ugly bird sitting by himself. He was also a sparrow, but he did not have any feathers. The flock of sparrows felt sorry for their brother. They wanted to help him.

Put the following lines of dialogue in order.

“I am used to sitting by myself. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Hello. What is your name?”

“Come sit by us! Isn’t it lonely to sit by yourself?”

“They call me the ugly one.”

“It’s no bother!”

The poor ugly sparrow without any feathers sat with the flock of sparrows. Then each sparrow plucked out one of her feathers and gave it to the ugly sparrow. With all of those new feathers, the ugly sparrow now became the most beautiful bird at the party. The eagle noticed how beautiful the sparrow was and invited him to sit at the main table. The beautiful sparrow started to brag about himself. “I’m so beautiful! I’m the most beautiful bird at the party. I’m more beautiful than any of the other sparrows!”

What do you think?

If you were one of the other sparrows what would you say to the beautiful sparrow?

The flock of sparrows got angry at the beautiful sparrow. After the party, they each took their feather back from the beautiful sparrow, who was now just as ugly and lonely as before.

What do you think?

Do you agree with what the flock of sparrows did? Why? If you don’t agree, what would you say to the flock of sparrows to make them change their action? What would you say to the ugly sparrow?

The Rooster and the Peacock

A long time ago the most beautiful of all the birds was the rooster. But he was very proud. He thought he was so beautiful that he did not speak with many other animals or birds, and so he only had one friend--the peacock. But the peacock was quite ugly. He did not have any nice feathers. One day, the peacock said to the rooster, “You know, everyone knows that I am your friend, and they laugh at me because I am so much uglier than you are, and you are very, very beautiful.” The rooster was pleased to hear this. The peacock then said, “I have been invited to visit some friends, and I want to look nice. Can I please borrow some of your feathers?” The rooster loaned him some of his feathers. Then the peacock said, “If I do not come home, call my name. If night passes, and I am still not home, call my name again so that I will hear you.” The peacock went on his visit, but he did not come home. Even when the sun started to rise, the peacock still did not come home. And ever since that time, the rooster crows for his lost feathers every morning.

What do you think?

If the peacock came home, what would the rooster and the peacock say to each other? Create a dialogue.