The Eagle Who Thought It Was a Chicken

A rancher with hundreds of chickens often enjoyed walks in the woods near his home. One day, he found a baby eagle on the ground as he walked through the forest. He searched for the nest in the trees and cliffs above, but couldn’t find where the eagle nested. So, he took it home and put it with the chickens so it could survive. As it grew it became more and more like a chicken. It ate like a chicken and did not fly for it had never been taught how.

A local ornithologist heard of the strange situation and one day approached the rancher and said, “Please let me teach this eagle to fly.”

The rancher replied, “This eagle is a chicken now, born and raised as chickens are; it’s a chicken.”

Still, he consented to the ornithologist’s request.

The ornithologist took the bird into his arms and said, “Spread your wings and fly.” But the eagle would not. It looked around, first at the ornithologist then to it’s adopted family below. After several minutes the eagle jumped to the ground and began eating.

The rancher said, “I told you it wouldn’t fly.”

To this the ornithologist said, “Please let me try one more time tomorrow.”

The rancher agreed.

The next day the ornithologist returned and much to his dismay, the bird would not fly. “Please,” he begged, “let me come again and try once more tomorrow.”

Again, the farmer agreed.

The same process repeated itself for several days.

After many days, the ornithologist stopped coming. The rancher enjoyed the visits with the ornithologist, but knew the eagle would never fly.

Then one day, the ornithologist returned and took the bird far from home into the mountains. He hiked in the dark to the top of a mountain with the eagle in his arms. As the sun came up the ornithologist took the eagle and faced it East. He said, “You are not a chicken, you are an eagle. Open your wings and fly to the sun.” The eagle paused and the man said again, “You must spread your wings and fly for you are an eagle and your home is in the clouds above.”

The bird fluttered its wings and the stiff breeze blowing across the mountaintop caused the bird to rise a few inches from the ornithologist’s wrist. The man urged the bird upward over and over again.

Hour after hour the man stood at the edge of the precipice, urging the bird upward with each blast of air. Still, the bird would not fly.

As the sun began to set, the ornithologist gathered the bird into his arms and returned to the ranch.

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” was all he said to the rancher.

Day after day the ornithologist collected the great bird before the sun rose and hiked to the top of the mountain with the bird in his arms.

After many days, the ornithologist was beginning to wonder if the rancher was right. Perhaps this eagle had been so long with the chickens that it would never fly. Still, he collected the bird, hiked the mountain, and held the bird aloft as the wind blew.

The sun dipped toward the horizon once again. The man closed his eyes, sighed; defeated. Suddenly, the bird tensed, spread its wings, and launched into the sky.

The man stood in awe watching as the eagle quickly learned how to soar through the air. He watched until the eagle was no longer visible in the dim light.

The following day the ornithologist returned to the rancher. Surprised, the rancher asked where the eagle was.

The ornithologist replied, “You taught that bird to be a chicken, but it was always an eagle. The greatness was always inside him. Someone just had to show him how to let it out.”