The Eagle Chick

The Eagle Chick

One morning a farmer went out from his village to look for a missing goat. It was a young one and he was concerned about what had happened to her. She must have wandered off the day before, because when the boys brought the herd home and he counted them into the pen, she was missing.

During the night there had been a severe storm that made the farmer even more concerned for her safety.

He searched high and low, along the river; over the hillsides, even up among the rocks; always calling out in case the animal could hear his voice.

Suddenly he stopped. There before him on the narrow, rocky path was a small eagle chick a few days old.

'You must have been blown out of your nest in the storm,' he said.

He picked up the chick very carefully, and it nestled into the warmth and comfort of his big hands. Walking gently now, the farmer set off for home, still calling out for his lost goat but thinking about how he would need to care for the eagle chick too.

As he neared the village the children came rushing out to meet him, shouting happily. 'The goat came home on its own!'

When they saw what was in his hands, they were quiet and amazed.

"What is it?"

"It's an eagle chick that fell out of its nest in the storm, so we will have to look after it."

The farmer put the chick in the warm amongst the hens and their chicks. "The eagle might be the king of the birds, but now it will learn to be a chicken!"

The eagle looked less and less like a chicken as the days went by and the children often pointed it out to their friends as it happily pecked at the scraps in the yard.

A few weeks later a relative came to stay with the family. As they sat under the big tree sharing news, the relative pointed to the bird among the chickens. "That's not a chicken," he said, "it's an eagle!"


The farmer smiled at him. "It's a chicken now," he said. "It eats like a chicken."

"I'll prove to you it's an eagle!" exclaimed his brother. And he instantly picked up the young eagle and held it high above his head.

"You are an eagle not a chicken, you belong to the sky!" The eagle stretched its wings out wide, but then it saw the chickens scratching amongst the kitchen scraps and jumped down to the ground to join them.

'It's a chicken!' laughed the farmer, as the children screamed with delight.

The next day the farmer's brother asked to borrow a ladder. He leaned it against the side of the hut and with great difficulty tucked the struggling eagle under his arm and climbed up onto the roof.
He pointed the eagle towards the sky and said,

"You are an eagle not a chicken, you belong to the sky!"

Once more the eagle stretched out its wings, but then slithered down the thatched roof to land back amongst the chickens.
By this time the neighbours were watching and they all roared with laughter.

'It's a chicken now!' said the farmer again.

During the night, the farmer woke suddenly.

"Come outside and bring the bird," he said,

"It's the middle of the night what on earth do you want?'

"Give me one last chance. Bring the bird."

'The two men left their sleeping family and the silent village, the farmer carrying the bird.

"Where are we going?"

"To the mountain where you found the eagle chick. So that it can see the sun rise into the sky. Hurry, we must be there before the dawn."


They walked up the hillside and onto the rocks, just able to see their way along the rocky path. They inched their way onto a ledge overlooking the valley and placed the bird in front of them. The brother began quietly talking to it about the sun that would come over the horizon at any moment, bringing the morning to life and ruling the day with its light and power.

"Look for the sun, eagle. When it comes you rise too. You are an eagle not a chicken, you belong to the sky!"

Just at that moment the first rays of the sun struck the mountain and the earth was ablaze with light.

Warmth surrounded them as the sun rose over the horizon, unstoppable. The eagle stretched its wings as it felt the sun's life-giving rays on its feathers. Its head looked to left and right, suddenly alert; its talons checked their grip on the rock and it leaned forward towards the sun.

'You belong to the sky' murmured the brother as he inched back towards the farmer.

Then with scarcely any movement at all, the eagle gave itself to the wind rising up the face of the mountain and its feet left the rock. It swept outwards and upwards, soaring in the new morning's light, flying on strong wings towards the sun and out of sight.