One day a man was out walking through the woods when he heard the sound of a chick near by. There on the ground was an eagle chick with its new down feathers huddled in the tall grass. The man picked it up and brought it home. He placed it among the chickens and fed it the same food as he did the others. The Chick was content in the barnyard, grew in size and fed among the fowl each day.
Three years later a friend retuned to their village and came to visit. As the men talked of their lives they walked through the barnyard where the friend saw a strange site and said, ”That bird, it’s an eagle, not a chicken. Why is he in your coop?”
“Yes my friend but I have trained it to be a chicken so it is no longer an eagle. It remains as it should in the barnyard. It will never fly.”
“No,” said the friend “it is still an eagle. It has the heart of an eagle. He can surely be taught to fly. The friend could not stand it and he wanted to set it free.
They talked it over and agreed to a test. The next morning they met in the barnyard. The friend picked up the eagle and looking at the king of all birds said, “you are an eagle …you belong not to the earth.. but to the sky. Spread forth your wings and fly.”
The eagle cocked his head and looked at this man. He was confused and puzzled. He looked around and saw the other chickens eating not far away and jumped down to be with them.
“I told you my friend, he is a chicken. He cannot fly,” said the man.
“No,” assert the friend. “ I know he can fly. We shall try again.”
The next day the friend arose early and took the bird to the edge of the barnyard. He held the great bird up high and once again said, “You do not know but you are an eagle, you belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly!”
The eagle just stood there not knowing what to do. He looked for something familiar and then for his friends. At last he heard them and jumped down once again to join them.
But the friend was not dismayed. He made a third attempt to set the eagle free. The third morning the friends met again very early and with the eagle in hand hiked to the top of a hill just outside of town. As a sliver of sun peeked over the horizon and the orange and gold filled the sky, the friend lifted the eagle to face the magnificent sunrise. The friend spoke reverently but with force. “You are an eagle, the king of the birds. You belong to earth and to the sky. Spread forth your wings and fly!.”
The bird felt the wind stir in his feathers. He began to tremble and took a mighty breath. And with one great stroke of the wings he lifted off and began to fly toward the majestic sun circling higher and higher till he soared where no bird had gone before.
He may from time to time remember his friends from the barnyard but as far as we know he has never return to lead the life of a chicken.
Commentary
LEAVE A RESPONSE!Nice job, Marcia!