Eagle's egg
Yamani Sisimala De Silva
The wise man sat in front of the fire. There was a big cauldron on
the fire and the wise man was stirring the broth with a large spoon. A
feeble old man lay a few yards away from him and a young man stood in
front of him.
"To cure your father you must bring an eagle's egg. The broth will be
complete only then". The wise man said looking up at the young man.
"You can do it, Brave Eagle, you can do it" muttered the old man.
White Eagle had been struck with high fever and very often vomited what
ever he was given. Brave Eagle's sharp eye caught his father's and he
took his leave abruptly.
Brave Eagle knew where to go. On the western side of his hamlet there
was a huge cliff high as 200 ft to 300ft. Eagles used to build nests
there on the openings of the cliff. He has to find west now.
 He ran across green pastures and came into a thicket. After coming
through the thicket, he came up to a small creek. He went up to the
creek and bent down to put his forefinger in to the chilly water. He
took the finger out of the water and held it in front of him. After a
minute or two, the water dried up towards the front side of the finger.
Brave Eagle knew that this time of the year you get western winds. So
now the young man knew from which side the wind blew and which side is
west.
He walked across the creek stepping on round stones; their shape may
be due to the frequent encounter with the current.
He then ran through trees, jumping over bushes and without a break
ran towards the west. It was morning when he left and now towards noon
his sharp hawk lie eyes caught the sight of the huge chiff.
He stopped running only after reaching the foot of the cliff. First
he spent a minute or two planing how to climb the cliff. His gaze rested
upon the two Eagles' nests that were built on top of the cliff. One was
halfway through the cliff but the young man knew it was hard to reach
the exact place. The second was right on top and decided to get an egg
from that nest.
It took almost an hour for Brave Eagle to reach the top. His hands
and feet were oozing with blood from scratches he got in the encounter.
He peeped inside the nest and alas! He had no luck. The bird had not yet
laid any egg.
He had no option now. He has to take the difficult route. He
descended halfway towards the first nest Brave Eagle found it difficult
to descend than to ascend. This time when he peeped in to the nest,
there was one single egg. The young man watched it sadly. He did not
have the heart to rob it from the bird. But he had no choice. His father
was dying. So he picked up the egg and started to come down carefully.
On his way back he stopped only to drink a handful of water from the
creek and came back running all the way. He ran straight to his father
and knelt beside him. White Eagle opened his eyes and saw his brave son
with the egg in hand.
"I knew you could do it. I knew you could do it" was all that the
happy old man had to say and he closed his eyes.
The wise man came out of the nearby wigwam and examined the old man.
After a few minutes' examination he pronounced him dead. Brave Eagle
kept looking at the egg. All of a sudden he rose to his feet and started
to run. "Where are you going? You have to perform the funeral rites
before the sun rises".
"I'll keep back the egg and come back" assured the young man.
|
