(A story from Southern Nigeria)
Many years ago, the king of Calabar was not just king of the people but also of all the animals that crawled and walked and swam and flew.
One of his favorite subjects was the hawk, who carried messages for the king so swiftly and faithfully that the king decided one day to reward him. So he called the hawk to his throne.
“I know that you are growing older, and that it is no longer as easy for you to hunt as it once was,” the king said. “So I’ve decided to let you choose some kind of animal that you would like to be able to hunt for the rest of your life without any difficulty. Go out and find whatever it is that you would like, bring it back to me, and I will make that your food forever.”
The hawk bowed deeply, then went to a window of the palace and flew off into the sky.
He soared over forest, fields and mountains, until he saw movement on the ground and flew lower to see what it was.
What he saw was a baby owl that had tumbled out of its nest. The hawk swooped down, grabbed the owlet and flew off back to the castle.
The king looked over the owlet and said, “So this is your choice? Very well then: From now on, you may feed upon the owls to your heart’s content.”
The hawk bowed low, picked up the owlet and flew off to a nearby mountaintop where his friends were gathered. He told them the story and showed them the baby owl he had captured.
His friends looked over the owlet, and then one of them asked him a question. “When you grabbed this youngster, what did its parents say?”
“Why, nothing at all,” the hawk replied. “They kept quiet up in their nest and didn’t make a sound. They just watched with their great, round eyes and said nothing.”
“Take it back, quickly,” his friend said, and the other raptors nodded their heads in agreement. “Put it where you found it and find yourself some other kind of animal for your food. The king is a good man and he will let you change your mind if you ask him.”
The hawk was puzzled, but his friends were all in agreement, so he picked up the owlet, flew back to the tree where he had found it, and returned it to the spot under the nest.
Then he flew off again to seek the food he would bring to the king as his new choice. But by this time, word of the hawk’s search had spread among the animals, and not a bird or rabbit or mouse was to be seen anywhere.
At last, the hawk circled over a farm where he saw a flock of chickens scratching in the dirt. The hawk swooped down to snatch a young chicken, and, as his shadow fell over the yard, the hens all ran and screamed. He landed on the ground and the rooster came racing towards him, feathers fluffed out, neck stretched forward, beak open, shouting and yelling and calling out threats.
The hawk grabbed a young chick and took off into the air as the hens and rooster continued to race around the farmyard, screaming even worse threats and demanding that he drop the chick.
He flew to the castle and presented the chick to the king. “Highness,” he said, “before, I brought you another animal and asked that you make it my food. But I have decided I do not want to eat owls forever. Please, sire, let me change my choice and make this chicken my food.”
The king nodded. “Yes, my friend, you shall have your choice. From now on, hawks will be able to capture chickens, and that shall be your food.”
The hawk bowed low, picked up the chick and flew back to the mountaintop where his friends were gathered.
“This is now my food forever,” he said. “I hope you approve of this choice, for I would be ashamed to ask the king to let me change my mind yet again.”
His friends looked the chick over and the wisest asked, “When you grabbed this youngster, what did the parents say?”
“They were furious!” the hawk replied. “I thought they would kill me on the spot! The hens all ran and screamed, and the rooster came at me with his feathers puffed out, screaming threats like a madman!”
“Good,” his friend said, and the other birds nodded their agreement. “Let that be your food and you will have a long and prosperous life.”
The hawk looked at him quizzically. “But I have just told you how they shouted and threatened and chased after me!”
“Indeed,” his wise friend said. “And that is all they did, was to shout and threaten and chase. You have no need to fear them. No, the ones you must fear are those who, like the owl, sit and watch and say nothing while you do them harm. They will be silent now, but when it becomes dark and you have fallen asleep, they will come to settle the score.”
And since that day, hawks have eaten chickens, and left the owls alone.
(text c. 2005, Mike Peterson -- illustration c. 2005, Marina Tay)
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