The Chicken Eagle

A folk tale

Translated by:  Fateh Kassab

It is said that an eagle had been living on one of the mountain peaks. The eagle built its nest on top of a tree. The nest contained four eggs. A violent earthquake shook the earth and caused an egg to fall down from the nest. It rolled down to be settled in a henhouse.

 The hens thought that they must protect and take care of this egg. An old hen volunteered to care of the egg until it hatches. One day the egg hatched and a beautiful, little eagle came out.

 The eagle was brought up to be a hen, until he took the idea for granted. One day as he was playing in the hen yard, he saw a group of eagles circling high in the sky. He wished that he could fly high like those eagles. But he was encountered with mocking smiles of chickens, saying to him "You are nothing more than a chicken and will not be able to fly like those eagles." After that the eagle stopped his flight dream, surrendered himself to pain and despair. He died after having lived a long life, like a chicken.