At one time, on the outskirts of Shipolovi, there lived a woman who had a grumpy character. Once, when she was grinding corn, her little son began to cry, and she, unconscious of anger, grabbed his hand and said:
- March out the door! Cry as much as you like!
And with these words she put him outside.
It so happened that an Eagle was flying not far from the hut at that time. He heard a child crying, went downstairs and said to the boy:
“Climb on my back, I’ll take you to my home.”
The baby did as the Eagle ordered: he climbed onto his back and grabbed tightly onto the feathers. The eagle carried him to a small cave located on a high rock. There the Eagle lived with his eaglets. The child began to play with them and quickly became friends.
Meanwhile, the woman realized that the baby had disappeared. She searched the entire street, visited all the neighbors, but did not find her son anywhere. Now that the boy was missing, she felt how much she missed him, and began to beg her fellow villagers to help her in the search, never tired of praising the boy in every possible way. But the search ended in nothing.
Three days later, several men went for fuel and saw a boy on a rock near the Eagle Cave.
During these days he changed: eagle feathers appeared on his body, and his eyes turned from black to yellow.
People rushed to Shipolovi and told their parents that they had seen their son. The parents, accompanied by fellow villagers, hurried to the rock. At the sight of people, the eaglets hid in the farthest corner of the cave. The boy hid with them.
Old Eagle addressed the newcomers:
- I know why you are here. You can take your child with you. But when you return to Shipolovi, do as I tell you: put the boy in a separate room for four days. Prepare food and drink. But don’t let anyone in to see him, because no one should look at him. Then by the end of the fourth day he will be a Hopi boy again. But if anyone breaks the ban, the child will turn into an eagle and return to us.
The parents did everything as the Eagle said. They placed their son in the back room, stocked up on food and drink, soft skins and blankets, and, saying goodbye affectionately, left.
By the end of the first day, the mother was overcome with curiosity.
“I’ll just open the door a little and just look at my son,” she began to persuade her husband.
But he didn’t let her do this and drove her away from the door. For three days and three nights he guarded the room and was implacable to his wife’s requests. The last night has come. And again the wife began to beg her husband:
- The fourth night is already ending. What happens if I look at my son an hour earlier? I must know if the Eagle deceived us. What if our son never becomes an Indian boy again?
And, pushing her husband away, she looked through the crack. At that very moment the boy turned into an eagle. Flapping his wings, he crossed the room, jumped over the threshold of his father's house and, spreading his wings, soared upward.
When the father came to his senses, it was already too late. In anger, he shouted to his wife:
- It's your fault! You disobeyed the old Eagle and did not do as he ordered. Now blame yourself. Old Eagle will have another son, we will not have one!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru