Once upon a time, a lonely hawk
lived on a tree by the riverside. He was young and handsome but he had no
friends.
One day, he saw a beautiful
she-hawk sitting on a tree and wanted to marry her but the she-hawk refused to
marry him, as he had no friends.
“Will you marry me if I make three friends?” –
he asked. She said that she definitely would.
The hawk then went looking for
friends. While flying on the other bank of the river, he saw a huge tortoise.
The hawk flew down to him and said, “Dear tortoise, will you be my friend and
help me in my hour of need?” The tortoise agreed to become his friend and said,
“Call me whenever you need me and I shall come to your side.”
The hawk also promised him his help
at any time and then flew in search of the second friend. Soon, he came upon an
osprey. The hawk went to it and asked her if she would be his friend and help
him in time of his need. The osprey very gladly accepted his friendship and
offered her help whenever he needed it.
The hawk was glad that he had made
two friends.
He went on searching for a third
friend. He flew over the jungle and saw a tiger. Fearless as he was, he went
near the tiger and requested him to be his friend. The tiger readily accepted
his friendship and said, “From now onwards, I am your friend. Nobody will harm
you. If anyone tries to harm you, call me and I will be there to help you.”
The hawk was very happy. He thanked
the tiger, flew back to the she-hawk and said, “I have made three friends, a
tortoise, an osprey and a tiger. Will you marry me now?”
The she-hawk agreed to marry him.
Soon, their marriage took place. The three friends attended the hawk’s
marriage.
After some-months, she-hawk gave
birth to two baby hawks. The parent hawks were very happy to have cute little
babies. They lived happily in their nest.
One day, two hunters came and sat
under that tree. They were tired and hungry. They had not been able to hunt any
animal. They decided to catch some fish. But, they couldn’t catch even a single
fish.
It was getting dark and the hunters
decided to spend the night under that tree. To keep themselves warm, they lit a
fire. The fire soared high. The hawk-babies on the tree could not bear the heat
and the smoke coming out of the fire. They started crying. The Hunters heard
their cries. One of them said, ”There are birds on this tree. Let us catch
them. We shall roast them on the fire and eat them.” The other one agreed.
The hawks heard them and were
really worried about the safety of their babies. The she-hawk suggested that
they seek help from their friends. The hawk went to the osprey and told her his
problem. The osprey said, “Go home and protect your babies. I shall tackle with
the hunters.”
The osprey dived into the river and
then flew over the fire. The water from her wet feathers fell on the fire. She
repeatedly dived into the river and flew over the fire. The water from her
feathers put off the fire.
The hunters decided to light the
fire again; however, as soon as they lit the fire, again the osprey put it off.
In the meantime, the hawk went to
get help from the tortoise. When the tortoise heard about the hawk’s problem,
he said to him, “Do not worry dear friend, I will be there in no time and
tackle the hunters in my own way. Go and protect your family.”
The hawk flew to the tree and the
tortoise reached the tree. He went quite close to where the hunters were
sitting and trying to light the fire again. The hunters saw the tortoise and
one of them said, “Look there is a huge tortoise. Let’s forget about the hawks
and catch this tortoise.”
The other hunter agreed and said,
“Let’s tear our shirts and make a rope. We shall tie its one end to the
tortoise and other to our waists. Then we will pull the tortoise with all our
strength.” The other hunter liked the idea. Soon, they make a rope out of their
shirts. They tied one end of the rope to the tortoise’s legs. Then, trying the
other end to their waist, they could not pull the tortoise. The tortoise’s
strength was much greater than the two hunters were together.
The tortoise pulled the two men
into the water. Once, inside the water, it was very easy for the tortoise to
drag them. With great efforts, they cut the rope that was tied to their waist
and swam back to the bank. They were now feeling very cold. They had lost their
shirts. They thought of making a fire again.
Seeing them collecting leaves and
twigs, the hawk was worried again. He flew to the forest and called his third
friend, the tiger. He found the tiger at the edge of the forest. When the tiger
heard the hawk’s problem, he immediately rushed towards the riverbank.
The hunter had now lighted the fire
and one of them was preparing to climb the tree to get the hawk babies. Just
then, the tiger reached the tree. Seeing the tiger, the hunters ran from there
and never came back again.
The hawk thanked all his three
friends for their kind and timely help. He also realized that it is very
important to have at least a few friends. The female-hawk was very wise in
advising the hawk to make friends before marrying him.
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