PARAMISHI - The Eagle Who Believed He Was A Chicken

The Eagle Who Believed He Was A Chicken

One day a farmer went out hunting to look for any interesting birds that he could find and he saw an eagle chick and he took it home. He brought this baby eagle up to believe that it was a chicken. He placed the eagle amongst the chickens and fed him the same food as he fed the chickens. One day a naturalist came along and saw this eagle, which had by then grown to his full size, and said, “Why is that eagle there doing amongst the chickens? It is an eagle. It needs to fly and soar in the wide open spaces.” And the farmer said, “I taught him to believe that he is a chicken and he will not fly”. Then the naturalist said: “Can I just have a go and see whether I can get him to fly?” He took the eagle and he looked at the eagle and he said, “Eagle! You are the king of the birds with a wingspan of over six feet. Stretch out your wings and fly.” And the eagle looked this way and he looked that way and then he looked down at the chickens. He saw the chickens and the chicken food and he jumped down and he scratched around again with the chickens. The farmer said, “See! What did I tell you? I taught him to be a chicken. He believes he is a chicken and therefore he is a chicken”. The naturalist replied, “This is not right. Give me one more chance.” The farmer agreed. So early the next morning the naturalist took the eagle to a high mountain. The sun was just rising and every boulder sparkled and he looked at the eagle sternly with all his might and he repeated, “Eagle! You are the king of the birds with a wingspan of over six feet. Stretch out your wings and fly.” And the eagle looked this way and he looked that way, he looked down and then he looked up at o Kham, the Sun, and he stretched out his wings and flew away and never returned.

And the moral of this story is: Children of the Rom, of the Romane Chave, of the Sons of Rama; you have been made in the image of O Del and you are of proud warrior stock, but some people want you to believe that you are khanies, that you are chickens. Throw off your chains of slavery that bind you, stretch out your wings and fly.

© Veshengro, 2007