How the birds chose a king

The drought was slowly killing the birds and animals in Phokeng Forest. The grass was dry and short. There was a small, muddy puddle where the drinking water should have been. Even Mrs Crow, who had a lot of food to eat when animals started to die from hunger, was getting thinner. Who wanted to eat a small pack of bones pretending to be a buck anyway?

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Luckily, Mrs Crow was very good friends with Eagle, the King of the Birds.
‘I have a plan to make sure that we always have enough food to eat,’ Eagle said to her.
‘Please don’t tell me that I should go out there to hunt? I so hate to chase my food!’
‘Don’t worry,’ Eagle said. ‘The food will come to you without lifting a finger.’
Mrs Crow loved the plan.

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The following morning, Eagle called a meeting of all the birds in the forest. He told them to all meet at the river’s edge, where they usually drink water at ten in the morning.
‘Ten in the morning? I will be asleep by then!’ Tera the owl complained to her friend uCilo. ‘He should have arranged the meeting for early evening. That way, we would meet after I wake up and before everyone else goes to sleep.
‘Now you’re dreaming,’ uCilo said, chuckling. ‘You know Eagle always arranges things to suit him and his friends, no one else!’

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‘I called this meeting to talk to you about tax,’ Eagle said when everyone was perched on a branch. ‘You should have started paying tax a long time ago. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. But but now that there is a drought, it is even more important that we start to do so.’
‘Pay tax?’ Mr Dove shouted at him. ‘Are you out of your mind? Why should we pay tax? And how can we do that when we don’t even have food to feed our own chicks?’


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Without a word, Eagle flew over to where Mr Dove was perched, bit his head off and let the body fall to the ground. Then he spit the head out and flew back to his perch where he faced the other birds.
‘Now, is there anyone else here who wants to question whether you should pay tax or not?’ Eagle asked as Mrs Crow flew down to eat what was left of Mr Dove.
‘No? Good! In case there is a bird here that does not know, I am the King of the Birds in Phokeng Forest. That means that my word is law. Anyone who does not like it can either challenge me or leave. But I should warn you: if you challenge me and lose, you will suffer the consequences.’
No one said a word.

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Eagle explained that all the birds were expected to spend part of their time hunting for food for the King.That is, for him.
‘Mrs Crow here has graciously agreed to accept and store all the meat that you bring for me,’ he said. ‘She will also keep track of who is bringing food and who is not.’
‘Eh.. excuse me Eagle,’ uCilo said hesitantly. ‘ I am very small and can only catch grasshoppers. I don’t have the strength to catch someone thing that you could at. Also, many of the birds here don’t eat meat and don’t know how to hunt. How will they catch your food?’
‘That is your problem, not mine.’ Eagle said. ‘The law is, all the birds in this forest should pay tax. It’s their business to find a way to do it.’

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‘You’re joking, right?’ Tera said when uCilo told him about Eagle’s tax law.
‘Nope!’ uCilo said.
‘But how can he do that? He’s not even our real leader. We did not choose him!’ Tera said.
‘We did not challenge him either when he declared himself to be King of the Birds,’ uCilo said. ‘ He said that we can either challenge him for the throne or do as we’re told. As usual, everyone chose to do as they were told.’

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For the next couple of days, uCilo worried about how she and Tera were going to hunt food for Eagle. She thought of setting a trap as she had seen humans do. But where was she going to get a trap to use? And even if she did get one, she did not know how to use it. She was more likely to hurt herself with it than catch anything useful.
UCilo thought of paying someone to hunt for them. But who? Many of the birds did not eat meat and did not know how to hunt. And with the drought being so bad and food so scarce, how was she going to pay the hunter? As she lay in her nest, worrying about the problem, a solution came to her. It was a bold and risky, but if she was successful, the birds in Phokeng Forest would never have to worry about Eagle again.


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‘You want to challenge Eagle for the leadership?’ Tera shouted at her. ‘Are-you- crazy?’
‘It’s the only way to solve the problem,’ uCilo calmly said. ‘We have enough problems with drought as it is. We don’t need is a selfish leader who forces us to hunt for him while he lazes about with his friends.’
Tera understood the need to get rid of Eagle. But challenging him was dangerous.
‘What is going to stop him from ripping your head off as soon as you say the words challenge you?’
‘Because I am so little, he might decide to play with me for a while before he kills me. You know, like a cat plays with a mouse it’s planning to eat for lunchh. Also, Eagle likes to kill in public to scare everyone. I’m going to challenge him when he’s with a few of his friends and hope that he sets me aside to kill later.
‘What will stop him from killing you even if you win the race?’ Tera asked uCilo.

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Tera went with uCilo to challenge Eagle ‘for moral support.’
To everyone’s surprise, Eagle accepted the challenge with good humour.
‘Ha ha ha ha ha!’ he laughed when uCilo issued his challenge. ‘You think that you can beat me and become King of the Birds?’
‘Yes I do,’ uCilo said, trying not to look as scared as she felt.
‘Fine then,’ Eagle said. ‘Meet me at the river’s edge tomorrow afternoon at five. We’ll compete who can fly the highest and fastest.’
‘But that’s not fair!’ uCilo said.
‘Fair?’ Eagle laughed harder. ‘What does fair have to do with choosing a leader?’
‘The contest should be something that the another bird can do equally well, not something that you only you can win,’ uCilo said. ‘A good leader should be judged by his wisdom, kindness, knowledge of how the other birds live and an interest in making their lives better, not by his ability to fly.’
‘Why should a weaker bird be given the chance to be a leader? We should choose a bird that is stronger and able to enforce the law. As I am about to demonstrate, I am that bird.’
‘Make sure that you eat a good meal tonight, my dear,’ Mrs Crow said when uCilo and Tera left. ‘You’re going to make such a tasty snack for me tomorrow evening after the race!’

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Tera and uCilo spent the rest of the day visiting the other birds, telling them about uCilo’s challenge.
‘I am worried that Eagle will kill uCilo even if she wins the challenge,’ Tera said. ‘Please help me protect her soon after the race.’
‘How can we help?’ the Sparrows asked.
Tera’s plan was simple. If all the birds enter the contest, then uCilo won’t be the only challenger.
‘And if Eagle kills her, then he’ll have to kill all the birds that entered the race. And he can’t do that because there will be too many of them.’

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Although there were many birds who agreed to the plan, some refused.
‘My husband was stupid enough to question Eagle and he died because of it,’ Mrs Dove said. ‘I am not going to do anything that could get me killed and leave my children orphans.’
‘We are all afraid, but we cannot let fear rule our lives,’ Tera said. ‘Eagle became king because we were too afraid to challenge him when he put himself on the throne. uCilo’s challenge gives us the chance to get rid of him. If we don’t and he gets away with setting a law that says we should hunt for him and his lazy friends, what will he do next? Pass a law that says he and his friends can snack on us anytime they like? We have to stop him. Now.’

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All the birds in the forest attended the contest. For some of the birds, the event was pure entertainment. For others, it was an opportunity to see their friend Eagle wipe the floor with that impertinent little bird, uCilo. There were many birds that attended the event in order to support poor little uCilo. Her cause was right. Unfortunately, she could not win in a race against Eagle. The only thing that they could do was enter the race, as agreed with Tera.


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Eagle did not mind the other birds entering the race.
‘It’s a good thing that they are all entering the race,’ he said to Mrs Crow when she complained. ‘They will not be able to say that I made myself king when they don’t like the rules. They are getting the chance to win the throne away from me and I know I will beat them.’


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When the race began, Eagle flew high above the other the birds. When he was as high as he could get, he twisted and turned and danced generally provided a good show for everyone. He was the clear winner!
‘Where is uCilo?’ Tera asked in concern. ‘Can anyone see uCilo?’


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Eagle was just about to begin his descent when uCilo came out from under his wing and flew higher. Before the race began, uCilo crept under Eagle’s large wing. He was so busy bragging to his friends that he did not notice the little extra bundle under his wing.
Eagle tried to catch up with her but he could. He was too tired.

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‘There she is,’ Tera shouted, flying in circles just above the spectators. ‘She won! She won!’
‘No she didn’t,’ Mrs Crow said angrily. ‘ Eagle ran faster and higher than all the other birds, and that little UCilo tried to cheat him.’
‘Who cares how she did it?’ Tera shouted. ‘She won! She won!’

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Eagle was furious.
‘uCilo did not win the race fairly, so she should be disqualified,’ Eagle said to the Mrs Swallow, who was referee to the race.
‘Fair?’ uCilo laughed, taunting Eagle like he did her. ‘As you said, what does fair have to do with choosing a leader? I have provden that a leader need not be the strongest bird in the group. He or she should be smarter and more cunning that her enemies. As I have just demonstrated, I am that bird.’

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‘You agreed to the race Eagle, and we never set the rules of the game,’ said Mr Swallows, who acted as referees said.
‘Because I did not expect her to cheat!’ Eagle shouted.
‘You said that the bird that can fly the highest and fastest becomes king or queen of the birds. uCilo flew the highest. So you have to accept the results.’
‘And if I don’t?’ Eagle asked, walking to Mr Swallows in a threatening manner. ‘What if I decide to kill the little cheat and give her to Mrs Crow to snack on?’

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Mr Swallows took a huge gulp of air, but it did not calm his nerves. He looked at the other birds that had agreed to support uCilo, standing behind him. They could not back off, esepcially now that the chance to get rid of Eagle was so great.
‘We.. the other birds.. we..we agreed that if by some miracle uCilo wins the race and you still kill her, then we will kill you too.’
‘Kill me? How?’ Eagle asked incredulously.
‘Physically, none of us can win a battle against you,’ Mrs Swallows said. ‘But we can get to in other ways. For example, when the hunters come, we could fly towards your nest to lead them to you. You are a big bird. Sooner or later, they would get you with their guns. ’
‘Or, we could poison the meat that we bring to you as tax,’ Tera said. ‘You would never be be able to look at your food without wondering if it is safe to eat.’
‘You are going to let her get away with it!’ Eagle exclaimed angrily.
‘Sorry Eagle, but uCilo is the better leader, despite her small size,’ Mrs Swallows said. ‘She also showed us that we don’t have to be physicaly stronger in order win.’

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‘Bye bye,’ uCilo taunted him, waving a wing at him. ‘ I can’t say that it was nice knowing you.’
‘You will pay for cheating me!’ Eagle vowed as he and his friends left the field. ‘One day, I will make you pay.’

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Eagle, Mrs Crow and many of Eagle’s supporters decided to move to another forest after the race.
‘You’re welcome to keep this dustbin anyway,’ Mrs Crow said as they left. ‘It’s dry and ugly and you are likely to starve to death living here.’
‘Sore loser!’ Tera crowed.

Bibliography

Based on the folkstory titled: ‘How the birds chose a king.’ An original version of this folkstory is published in ‘Zululand, Its Traditions, Legends and Customs by L.H. Samuelson (Kessinger Publishing)