Early one spring, an Eagle was soaring across the sky when he spotted, far below, a rather majestic bird standing in the water on its long legs.
He swooped down to the shallows, landed on the trunk of a thick tree that leaned over the water, and asked:
Who are you? What sort of bird are you? I haven't seen you around before.
I am a Crane,' replied the bird, 'and I've just come back home from the warmer lands.
You're rather splendid, and you look a bit like me, tall and slender. Let's be friends. Will you be my friend?
And why would I want to be friends with you?' asked the Crane.
Why, whatever do you mean?' said the Eagle, surprised. 'Do you have a friend here at home?
Yes! My friends are the other cranes.
Those aren't friends, those are relatives. Do you have any other friends?
No.
Come and perch beside me on this tree trunk. You've stood in that water long enough. Let's talk about what friends are for...
I can't. We cranes never sit in the branches of trees.
Why ever not?' asked the Eagle, surprised.
It's always been that way. The elders say our toes aren't built for it.
Have you ever actually tried?
No, and why would I? If we can't, we can't, and we don't need to. We walk on the water instead. And you, Eagle, do you walk on water?
I only brush the water when I fly over it. But let's talk about friends. You asked what they're for. Well, they're for having a proper chat, swapping stories about what has happened to us, or simply helping one another.
Well, if you like, then let's be friends,' agreed the Crane.
Tell me, where do your kin live? Mine live on that hill over there,' said the Eagle, waving a wing into the distance.
Mine are nearby, out foraging for food,' replied the Crane.
You know, friend,' said the Eagle slyly, 'I'm absolutely starving. I chased a mouse but never caught it, and a hare outwitted me by diving into its burrow. Could you possibly share some of your catch with me?
Of course I can share,' said the Crane, stepping over to his new friend and offering a frog held in his long beak. 'Help yourself.
I've never eaten anything like that before. But hunger waits for no one, and I need to keep my strength up to fly back to my kin.
The Eagle gobbled up the frog, then another, then a third!
Thank you, friend. Next time I'll bring you a present!
The Eagle flapped his wings, shot up into the sky and vanished high above. The Crane went back to hunting for food. He needed to eat well and build up his strength, because the next day he was to choose a wife, and the whole flock was planning a celebration for it.
A few days passed. The Crane looked up and saw the Eagle flying towards him, carrying something in his sharp talons.
Friend, friend!' the Eagle called. 'I've brought you a present!
He landed on the tree trunk and dropped a hare into the water.
You fed me last time, so now it's my turn.
Thank you, but we don't eat hares. They wouldn't fit down our throats. We live on small mice.
Oh, do try it!' insisted the Eagle.
Are you trying to kill me?
Well, you're impossible to please!
The Eagle ate the hare. When he had finished, he asked:
How are things? What have you been up to?
I was choosing myself a wife, and we had a celebration. Now we are building a new nest.
Congratulations!
And when will you settle down with a family?
It's too early for me yet. I'll enjoy a year of flying free first.
And so the Eagle and the Crane parted ways. A few days later, the Eagle came visiting his friend the Crane again.
He saw the Crane standing in the water once more, searching for something with his long beak.
What are you doing?' asked the Eagle.
I'm gathering seaweed, molluscs and shrimps, and putting them into a jug to take back to the nest. My wife is sitting on the eggs there, our future chicks.
Let me have some of what you feed your wife,' asked the Eagle.
Come down, then,' agreed the Crane, 'here's the jug. Help yourself.
The Eagle circled the jug: its neck was long and narrow, and his beak was not nearly long enough. No matter how he tried, he could not reach the food. He circled and circled the jug, but never got a bite.
Then catch me some frogs. They were delicious,' demanded the Eagle.
But there are no frogs left,' replied the Crane. 'They've all disappeared.
The Eagle was offended with the Crane:
You're not a friend to me. You begrudge a friend a bit of your food!
He flapped his wings and flew off. And so the friendship between the sly Eagle and the Crane came to an end.
