Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West AfricaAfrican Traditional ReligionsLegend / Oral TraditionEnglishShareFolk Stories from Southern Nigeria 15Project Gutenberg #34655 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg #34655LanguageEnglishEspañol‹Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 0Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 1Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 2Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 3Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 4Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 5Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 6Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 7Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 8Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 9Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 10Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 11Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 12Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 13Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 14Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 15Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 16Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 17Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 18Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 19Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 20Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 21Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 22Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 23Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 24Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 25Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 26Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 27Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 28Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 29Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 30Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 31Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 32Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 33Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 34Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 35Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 36Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 37Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 38Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 39Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria 40›Why a Hawk kills ChickensFolk Stories from Southern Nigeria 15ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1In the olden days there was a very fine young hen who lived with her parents in the bush. One day a hawk was hovering round, about eleven o'clock in the morning, as was his custom, making large circles in the air and scarcely moving his wings. His keen eyes were wide open, taking in everything (for nothing moving ever escapes the eyes of a hawk, no matter how small it may be or how high up in the air the hawk may be circling). This hawk saw the pretty hen picking up some corn near her father's house. He therefore closed his wings slightly, and in a second of time was close to the ground; then spreading his wings out to check his flight, he alighted close to the hen and perched himself on the fence, as a hawk does not like to walk on the ground if he can help it. He then greeted the young hen with his most enticing whistle, and offered to marry her. She agreed, so the hawk spoke to the parents, and paid the agreed amount of dowry, which consisted mostly of corn, and the next day took the young hen off to his home. 2Shortly after this a young cock who lived near the hen's former home found out where she was living, and having been in love with her for some months--in fact, ever since his spurs had grown--determined to try and make her return to her own country. He therefore went at dawn, and, having flapped his wings once or twice, crowed in his best voice to the young hen. When she heard the sweet voice of the cock she could not resist his invitation, so she went out to him, and they walked off together to her parent's house, the young cock strutting in front crowing at intervals. 3The hawk, who was hovering high up in the sky, quite out of sight of any ordinary eye, saw what had happened, and was very angry. He made up his mind at once that he would obtain justice from the king, and flew off to Calabar, where he told the whole story, and asked for immediate redress. So the king sent for the parents of the hen, and told them they must repay to the hawk the amount of dowry they had received from him on the marriage of their daughter, according to the native custom; but the hen's parents said that they were so poor that they could not possibly afford to pay. So the king told the hawk that he could kill and eat any of the cock's children whenever and wherever he found them as payment of his dowry, and, if the cock made any complaint, the king would not listen to him. From that time until now, whenever a hawk sees a chicken he swoops down and carries it off in part-payment of his dowry. ‹Previous chapterFolk Stories from Southern Nigeria 14Next chapterFolk Stories from Southern Nigeria 16›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg