A group of eagles lived high up in the mountains above the black valley. Their nests were close together, and they did everything as one. They always flew over the black valley in a flock and never separated. They called themselves invincible.
They wanted to rule over the entire black valley and the mountains beyond. They never accepted anyone into their group, and no one dared to ask them to. Except for one little hawk.
He was a featherless little thing, but though he was small, he had a lot of courage and he was very smart. His name was Richard. He lived alone, with no flock and no family – and he wanted to change that. He believed life would be more fun with friends around. And safer, too.
So one day, Richard decided to try to get to know the eagles. It didn’t matter that he was just a hawk. They were all birds, after all – they all had beaks and wings – so why divide themselves into groups?
As dusk began to fall, Richard slowly approached the rocks. Soon he saw the mighty, beautiful eagles settling down to sleep. He flew quietly toward them and asked shyly, “Hi, I’m Richard, and I’m alone. Could I stay here with you? Please! I don’t want to be by myself at night.”
The group of large birds stared at him in surprise, and the biggest eagle immediately said, “What do you think this is? You expect us to shelter every little bird that comes by? Forget it. Only we sleep here – the strongest birds. Are you an eagle? No, you’re not. So go away.”
Richard the hawk was sad. But he didn’t want to cause any trouble, so he walked away. Still, he had no intention of giving up. For a long time, he kept hovering near the ruling group of birds. He showed up now and then, sometimes he just watched them from a distance. He longed to belong somewhere. He longed to have brave friends like them. He still couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t accept him.
One day, as Richard was watching the eagles and quietly circling above them, he saw the biggest eagle approach something strange. It looked like tasty food – but it didn’t belong in nature. Someone must have thrown it away or left it there on purpose. Some human.
The eagle was about to pick it up in his beak when Richard jumped right in front of it. “Please don’t eat that. It’s poison – trust me. I know it. I can tell by the smell. I come from the field behind the big rocks, and some people put stuff there to poison the birds,” Richard blurted out to the eagle.
At first, the eagle was angry that the little hawk was bothering him again. – and worse, telling him what to eat. He was about to snap at him when a huge vulture flew in. It was the largest bird that lived in the rocks. It stood on the rocks near the eagle and the hawk and said, “It’s true, eagle. The little bird is right. It’s poison. I know that too. The tiny bird you’re always angry at just saved your life. Be grateful. Accept him into your group – he deserves it.”
Then the vulture spread its huge wings and flew away. It was a loner, respected by everyone in the valley and in the rocks. The eagle realized that the vulture was right. The little hawk had indeed saved his life. The others saw it too. So the eagle looked at the brave little creature in front of him and said, “Come, little one, you belong with us.”
“My name is Richard,” whispered the hawk timidly. and joined the group with a happy heart.
That evening, as everyone was getting ready to sleep, Richard settled comfortably into his place of honor and said to himself, “I always say it, a bird is a bird, we all have beaks and wings. We have to stick together.”
“Go to sleep, little one,” said the big eagle next to him. He fell asleep with a smile on his face. He was glad that such a small and brave bird had shown him how important it is to help each other – and never push anyone away.