Phoebus is as much in love with his beautiful young wife as he is jealous. He so much adores his wife that he gives her nearly everything she wants. Among other things, there is a white-feathered crow in his household which can repeat any word it hears. During Phoebus's absence his wife betrays him with a secret lover. On his return the crow tells him about his wife's scandalous behaviour. In rage Phoebus kills his wife and then turns his anger towards the crow. He plucks its white feathers and then replaces them by black ones. Finally he removes the crow's ability to speak so that all its descendants are black and cannot sing. The story is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

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