Once upon a time, a lonely hawk lived on
a tree by a riverside. He was young and handsome. Yet, he had no
friends. One day, he saw a beautiful she-hawk sitting on a tree. He
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 her.
She said that she would definitely marry him if he made three friends.
The hawk then went looking for friends.
While flying, he saw a tortoise. He lived on the other bank of the
river. 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.
Now, he went in search of 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. The tiger 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 and flew back to the she-hawk., “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 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 the Osprey and told her
his problem. The Osprey said, “Go home and protect your babies. In the
meantime, I shall tackle with the hunters”. The osprey divided 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 before getting the hawk babies. They started collecting the leaves
and the twigs. However, as soon as they lit the fire again, the osprey
put it off by diving into the river and letting the water from her
feathers fall into the fire.
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. In the meantime, 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. It was tortoise who pulled the two men into
the water.
Once, inside the water, it was very easy
for the tortoise to drag them. Thus, the two hunters fell into the
river. 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 those collecting leaves and
twigs, the hawk was worried again. Now 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 walked
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 had been very
wise in advising the hawk to make friends before marrying him.
