THE STORY OF THE HAWK AND THE HEN

 

The hawk and chick 

Story! Story!!

..

Once upon a time, in a far land, there lived a faithful hawk, called Mula. Mula had been working diligently in the king's palace all his life. One day, the wise king decided to set him free and also reward him. 

"Ask whatever you want from me and I will grant it unto you." He said.

Mula thought about it for a long time then decided to ask the king to allow him to have birds as his daily food. 

The wise king smiled at him and said, "Go, fly as much as you can, search and bring me any bird you wish to use for food and it will be meat for you henceforth"

 With this, the happy hawk flew in search of an unlucky prey to take to the king as food. Soon he came across the Owl sitting quietly with her Owlets. He smiled to himself and said, " I have finally found my food". With no stress, he picked up one of the owlets and flew back to the king.

"This, my Lord, is what I found as food," Mula said excitedly at his discovery. 

The wise king looked at him and asked, " When you picked the owlet, what did its parents say?"

"Nothing, they just sat quietly and watched," He answered.

"Go and return the Owlet to its mother" the wise king advised.

"Why?" Mula asked, quite disappointed.

"As the owl had made no noise, you could never tell what they would do to you at midnight. They were no doubt plotting in their mind some deep and cruel revenge against you."

With much disappointment, Mula, the hawk carried the Owlet the next day back to its mother and left him near the nest.

He flew about looking for the next bird which would do as its food, but all the birds had heard of the captured Owlet and went into hiding when he was near. He, therefore, could not catch any bird.

Sadly he began to fly home. On his way, he sighted from far a hen near a house, basking in the sun and scratching the dust for food.

She was surrounded by chicks trying to eat from her feet. He watched as the old hen kept clucking and calling on its chick to eat from time to time. As Mula watched the hen with her chicks, he made up his mind to capture one of the chicks.

Swiftly, he swooped down and caught the smallest in his strong claws. Immediately he had seized the chicken, the cock began to make a great noise and the hen ran after him and tried to make him drop her chick.

Away he flew with the chick as far as he could until he got to the king's palace.

When he showed the king what he had caught, the wise king smiled at him and asked, " when you picked the chicken, what did its parents say?" 

"They all made a lot of noise, and the old hen chased me and wouldn't stop shouting. But although there was a great disturbance, nothing happened" Mula, the  Hawk narrated.

The wise king smiled again at Mula and said, " It is settled. You are safe to kill and eat the chickens"

"Why?" Mula, the hawk asked with confusion written over his face.

The wise king looked at him and said, " Those who make plenty of noise in the daytime will sleep at night and not disturb you. The people you should be afraid of are those when they were injured, kept quite silent; you might be certain they are plotting mischief to carry out in the nighttime."

Mula, the hawk thanked the king for his wise words and went away with the chick to use as food.

 From that day till now, Mula alongside his generations used chicken as food, and mother hen kept shouting and attacking them so that heaven and earth would bear her witness. 

MORAL LESSONS

1. There is no success without a struggle. Keep pushing until you get there.

2. Satisfaction and value come when you work for what you have.

3. Be careful around those who keep things to themselves especially when they are hurt. 

4. Always remember that an empty vessel makes the loudest noise. 

5. Be updated about the day-to-day happenings around you. The hen would have avoided the hawk if she was informed like other birds.

If you have learned from this story, do not forget to follow this blog for updates. Smile, share, and comment.💝