They say that once the birds staged a big cabari to elect a king. Many wanted to choose the Vurumaheri, because there is no bird stronger than the falcon and only he alone can frighten any enemy so much that his feathers stand on end from fear. The birds offered him a kingdom, but the proud Vurumaheri neglected the power that his beak and claws already gave him and refused. Then the birds decided to choose a goose, or a papango, or a kestrel, but such endless disputes began that there was no way to come to an agreement. Someone advised to make foodie king. Here's what he said:
— Foodie is not like other birds. In winter he is no different from us, and in summer he dresses in elegant bright red feathers. Apparently, nature itself gave him a royal robe to help us make a choice.
Everyone agreed on this. And so the foodie became king. With his cheerfulness, agility and dexterity, he quickly won the love of his subjects. Fudi was especially loved and revered by the sad Takatra, whose life was safe while he was king. But it’s not for nothing that the proverb says: “The wind easily shakes a tall tree” and “A good man always has many enemies.” Soon the foodie had to feel it for himself. Vurumaheri, seething with anger that such a small bird had become king, pounced on him and pecked him to death. Then he proclaimed himself king. The birds, out of fear, did not dare to object and submitted to the dominion of the falcon.
But the proverb says: “The guilty will not escape punishment, and the one who did evil brought trouble upon himself.” Takatra has not forgotten the foodie's kindness; she could not come to terms with the cunning of the Wurumaheri. One day, when the new king was thinking about something, Takatra quietly crept up to him and hit him with her beak several times with all her might. The falcon fell; Takatra thought that he had died, left him in the same place and flew to call the birds. When the big cabari began, she asked to be allowed to speak and told how and why she killed the Wurumakheri. Almost everyone listened to her with approval; many birds crowded around the dead man. They stood and looked at the falcon, when suddenly the one they thought was dead began to move. A terrible commotion began among the birds, some were just about to finish off the vurumaheri, but then the kestrel spoke:
“I don’t want to defend Vurumaheri, he was evil and cruel.” He was accustomed to obtaining by force what they did not want to give him of their own free will. Takatra, who avenged the death of the foodie, justly deserves our gratitude. But Vurumaheri and I are the sons of two sisters. His trouble is my trouble. That's why I ask you to give me his life. He lost his kingdom; that would be punishment enough for him.
The birds gave in to the kestrel's requests, and she hurried to help the wounded man. This, they say, is why the wurumaheri does not quarrel with the kestrel, but runs away from it, even though the kestrel is a small bird: he remembers that he owes his life to her. And he hates the takatra that attacked and wounded him and does not miss an opportunity to harm her.
The birds had to choose a king again. This time they chose reiluvi. He has a very beautiful voice, and it is easy for him to speak during the cabari, besides, he is of average height, which means he is an unsafe opponent for envious people, and for the rest he is not so scary that his feathers stand on end. Reiluvi still maintains its dominion without difficulty. And instead of the corvee that people work for the king, the reiluvi enjoys the right to collect feathers from various birds to line their nest.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru