How Old King Eagle Won His White Head

Listen Ad Free https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Peter Rabbit sat on the edge of the dear old
briar patch, staring up into the sky with his head
tipped back until it made his neck ache. Way way
up in the sky was a black speck sailing across
the snowy white face of a cloud. It didn't seem
possible that it could be a live way up there,
but it was. Peter knew that it was, and he

(00:21):
knew who it was. It was King Eagle. By and
by it disappeared over towards the Great Mountain. Peter rubbed
the back of his neck, which ached because he had
tipped his head back so long. Then he gave a
little sigh. I wonder what it seems like to be
able to fly like that, said he out loud away.

(00:42):
He sometimes has. Are you envious? Asked a voice so
close to him that Peter jumped. There was Sammy Jay
sitting in a little tree just over his head. No,
snapped Peter, for it made him a wee bit cross
to be so startled. No, I'm not envious, Sammy Jay.
I'm not envious of any bird. The ground is good

(01:02):
enough for me. I was just wondering, that's all. Have
you ever seen King eagle close to, asked Sammy. Once
replied Peter. Once he came down to the green meadows
and sat in that lone tree over there, and I
was squatting in a bunch of grass quite near and
could see him very plainly. He is big and fierce looking,
but he looks his knee every inch a king. I've

(01:25):
wondered a good many times since how it happens that
he has a white head, because, replied Sammy, he is
just what he looks to be, King of the birds,
and that white head is the sign of his royalty,
given his great great ever so great grandfather by old
Mother Nature way back in the beginning of things. Peter's

(01:47):
eyes sparkled, tell me about it, Sammy, He begged, tell
me about it, and I won't quarrel with you any more,
all right, Peter, I'll tell you the story because it
will do you good to hear it. I suppose everybody
knew it, all birds do. That is why we all
look up to King Eagle, replied Sammy. Way back in
the beginning of things, old King Bear ruled in the

(02:09):
green forest as you know. That is, he ruled the
animals and all the little people who lived on the ground.
But he didn't rule the birds. You see, the birds
were not willing to be ruled over by an animal.
They wanted one of their own kind. So they refused
to have old King Bear as their king, and went
to Old Mother Nature to ask her to appoint a

(02:30):
king of the heir. Now, mister Eagle was one of
the biggest and strongest and most respected of all the
birds of the air. There were some like mister Goose
and mister swan, poor bigger, but they spent most of
their time on the water or the earth, and they
had no great claws or hooked beak to command respect,
as did mister Eagle. So Old Mother Nature made mister

(02:53):
Eagle King of the heir, and as was quite right
and proper, all the birds hastened to pay him homage.
So King Eagle ruled the air, and none dared to
cross him or to disobey him. Unlike Old King Bear,
he accepted no tribute from his subjects, but hunted for himself,

(03:13):
and instead of growing fat and lazy as did old
King Bear, he grew stronger of wing and feared no
one and nothing. Now, this was in the days when
the world was young and old Mother Nature was very
busy trying to make the world a good place to
live in, so she had very little time to look
after the birds and the animals. Thus she left matters

(03:35):
very much to King Eagle and Old King Bear. They
settled all the quarrels between their subjects, and for a
while everything went smoothly. King Eagle made his home on
the cliff of a mountain so that he could look
down on all below and see what was going on.
Every day he went down to the green forest and
sat on the tallest tree while he listened to the

(03:57):
complaints of the other birds and settled their dispute, and
none questioned his decisions. Now, after a while, this little
part of the earth where the animals and the birds
first lived, became overcrowded. It became harder and harder to
get enough to eat. Quarrels became more frequent, until King
Eagle had little time for anything but straightening out these

(04:18):
troubles and trying to keep peace. Old Mother Nature had
been away a long time, trying to make other parts
of the world fit to live in. No one knew
when she was coming back or just where she was.
King Eagle, sitting on the edge of the cliff on
the mountain, thought it all over. Old Mother Nature ought
to know how things were. He would send a messenger

(04:41):
to try to find her. So the next day he
called all the birds together and asked who would go
out into the unknown great world to look for old
Mother Nature and take a message to her. No one
offered this. One had a family to look after, that,
one was not feeling well, another had a pain, and
his wings. One and all they had an excuse until Hummer,

(05:04):
the tiniest of all the birds, was reached. He darted
into the air before King Eagle. I'll go, said he.
All the others laughed. The very idea of such a
tiny fellow going out to dare the dangers of the
unknown great world seemed to them so absurd that they
just had to laugh. But King Eagle didn't laugh. He

(05:25):
thanked Hummer and told him that his heart was as
big as his body was small, but that he would
not send him out into the great world, for he
would go himself. He had been but trying out his subjects,
and he had found but one who was worthy, and
that one was the smallest of them all. Then King

(05:46):
Eagle said things that made all the other birds hang
their heads for shame and want to sneak out of sight.
After that, he told them that no king who was
worthy to be king would ask his subjects to do
what he would not do himself. And at where there
was danger to be faced or something hard to do,
it was the king's place to do it. So he

(06:06):
himself was going out into the unknown great world to
find mother Nature and see what could be done to
make things better and happy afore them. Then he spread
his great wings and sailed away, every inch a king.
They watched him until he was a speck in the sky,
and finally he disappeared altogether. Day after day they watched

(06:31):
for him to come back, but there was no sign
of him. They began to shake their heads and openly
talk of choosing a new king. Only little mister Hummer
kept his faith, and day after day flew away in
the direction old King Eagle had gone, hoping to meet
him coming back. At last, the day was set to
choose a new king. That morning, as soon as it

(06:54):
was light enough to see, little mister Hummer darted away,
and his heart was heavy. He would take no part
in choosing a new king. He would go until he
found King Eagle, or until something happened to him. Pretty
soon he saw speck way up against a cloud, a
speck no bigger than himself. It grew bigger and bigger,

(07:17):
and at last he knew that it was King Eagle himself.
Little mister Hummer turned and flew as he never had
flown before. He wanted to get back before a new
king was chosen, so that King Eagle might never know
that his subjects had lost faith in him. He was
so out of breath when he reached the other birds

(07:39):
that he couldn't say word for a few minutes. Then
he told them that King Eagle was coming. The other
birds had proved that they were not brave when they
had refused to go out in search of old mother Nature,
and now they proved it again. Instead of waiting to
give King Eagle a royal welcome, they hurried away one
after another. They were afraid to meet him because in

(08:00):
their hearts they knew that they had done a cowardly
thing in deciding to choose a new king. So when
King Eagle, weary and with torn wings and broken tail feathers,
dropped down to the tall tree in the green forest,
there was none to give him greeting, save little mister Hummer.
King Eagle said nothing about the failure of the other
birds to give him greeting, but at once sent little

(08:24):
mister Hummer around to tell all the others that far
away he had found Old Mother Nature preparing a new
land for them, and then when she gave the word,
he would lead them to it. Then King Eagle flew
to his home on the cliff of the mountain, and
not one word did he ever say of his terrible journey,

(08:44):
of how he had gone hungry, had been beaten by storms,
and had suffered from cold and weariness. It never once
had turned back. But when Old Mother Nature came later
and announced that the new land was ready for the birds,
she first called them together and told them all that
King Eagle had suffered, and how he had proved himself

(09:08):
a royal king. As a reward, she promised that his
family should be rulers over the birds forever. And as
a sign that this should be so, she reached forth
and touched his black head, and it became snowy white,
and all the birds cried, long live the King. Then
Old Mother Nature turned to tiny mister Hummer and touched

(09:31):
his throat, and behold a shining ruby. Was there the
reward of loyalty, faith and bravery. Then King Eagle mounted
into the air and proudly led the way to the
promised land. And so the birds went forth and peopled
the great world. And King Eagle and his children and

(09:53):
his children's children have ruled the air ever since, and
have worn the snowy crown which King Eagle of long
Ago so bravely won. End of Mother West wind House
Stories How Old King Eagle Won his white head by
Thornton W. Burgess