| The Hawk and the Snake
Written by One day Snake was sunning himself on a warm rock, as snakes often do. Snake looked into the blue sky and saw a beautiful Hawk soaring in the warm breeze. "Hawk," the snake cried, "come down here and talk to me!" Hawk glared down and saw Snake calling. Hawk was puzzled and thought to himself "This Snake must be crazy! Doesn’t he know that Hawks prey on Snakes? He must be a very brave snake. Let me go see what he wants." Hawk floated down and landed on the rock beside Snake. "What do you want Snake?" asked Hawk. Snake slithered close to Hawk. "Hawk, I looked up and ssssaw you sssssoaring and gliding in the warm breeze. I couldn't help but feel sadnesssss." Snake hissed as he spoke to Hawk. Hawk replied surprised "How could you feel sadness watching me soar and glide so high in the sky. Flying is the most wonderful thing in the world!" Snake looked solemn and said slowly "I know how wonderful flying is, I used to be Hawk until an evil Medicine Woman turned me into a Snake. Now I am bound to the ground for all of eternity ... Unlesssssss ... perhaps if you taught me how to fly again, I will turn back into a Hawk!" Hawk was all at once shocked, flattered and excited. Hawk went soaring into the air to show Snake how great it is to be a Hawk. "This is how you fly!" Hawk screamed down to Snake. "Could you please come down here beside me so that I can get a closer look?" hissed Snake. Hawk gladly flew lower to let Snake get a good look. "Do you think you can fly now Snake?" asked Hawk. "I don’t know, maybe you can fly a little closer to me so that I can see you better." Hawk was very proud of his flying and was glad to help out a fellow Hawk that had been turned into a Snake by an evil Medicine Woman. Hawk thought to himself the whole time he was soaring close by Snake "I am so happy to be helping poor Snake. I want him to be able fly again. Someday he will turn back into a Hawk and be able to soar with me and then I will not be alone in the sky......" Just then as Hawk was thinking about the wonderful times that will be had when Snake turns back into a Hawk, Snake caught Hawk off guard and struck out at him. Hawk screamed "What are you doing Snake? Why did you strike at me? I am trying to help you fly!!" Snake replied calmly "Hawk, I did not strike out at you! I was only trying to fly so I jumped off the rock." Hawk was leery of Snake but decided that Snake was telling the truth. Hawk landed next to Snake and said "If you want to learn how to fly you are going to have to pay close attention." The Snake hissed and nodded and said "Maybe if you stay down on the ground here with me, you can tell me how you fly." That sounded like a good idea to Hawk so Hawk started talking and talking trying to explain to Snake how to fly. Suddenly, while Hawk was deep into explaining the aerodynamics of flight, Snake pushed a rock over. Hawk barely escaped and confronted Snake. "Why did you try to push the rock over onto me Snake." Snake keenly replied "Why I never tried to push any rock over onto you Hawk. You are my friend and you are going to help teach me how to fly. We can soar together and see many things. You are the best flyer in the whole world and I am just a lowly Snake that is bound to the ground all because of the evil Medicine Woman." Hawk began to feel bad again for Snake, but was very confused so he went to talk to his Grandpa. "Grandpa," said Hawk "I met a Snake that said he was really a Hawk that had been turned into a Snake by an evil Medicine Woman and he said if I teach him how to fly he will turn back into a Hawk." Grandpa thought for a long while and finally replied "Grandson, Snake speaks with a forked tongue. He tells you what you want to hear but he means the opposite. The next time Snake speaks to you, listen with your heart and you will be able to hear the words as he really means them." Hawk soared high in the sky the rest of the afternoon thinking about Grandpa had told him. Suddenly he heard from below "Hawk, Hawk come down here and ssssshow me how you fly so magnificently." Hawk gathered all of his strength and flew down on the rock beside Snake. Snake hissed "Where have you been I was so worried about you. I misssss having you around. You fly so beautifully and........." Just then Hawk remembered what Grandpa had told him so he listened with his heart at what Snake was REALLY saying. "Hawk, you are a fool. I tricked you down here on the ground. Hawks belong in the air soaring, but I am so clever that I talked you into spending all of your time on the ground with me, a Snake! HA! I got you to fly close to me so that I could devour you with my sharp fangs. Then I got you to talk to me so that you could stand still long enough to let me push a rock on top of you. What a foolish Hawk!" When Hawk heard what Snake was REALLY saying, he took off flying and circled around Snake three times. Each time he let out a piercing Hawk cry. Hawk lunged toward Snake and just as he was about to dig into him with his talons, he turned to Snake and screamed "I could kill you now but instead I will let you live. Letting you live is greater torture because you will be bound to the ground forever and never be able to fly. You will have a forked tongue forever and will never be able to speak the truth. Only people who listen with their hearts will be able to hear your REAL words. The ones who do not listen with their hearts will be of your kind and will do to you what you do to them. As for me, I will forever soar in the sky alone, free and unbound to the Earth. Every time you hear Hawk scream, you will be reminded of what you tried to do to me but failed." |