Eagles in a Storm

Eagles in a Storm

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?

The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us – and all of us will experience them – we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God’s power to lift us above them.

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 4/4

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 4/4

It was then half past  five. A bamboo  trumpet sounded. Like a startled  daydreamer,  the male rhino roared,  then dashed to the west.  Ignoring  the shouts  of the people,  it  ran on, plunging  into the crowd. Then the rhino bellowed again, calling for its child and wife. The  three  ran  in a line,  the child in the middle,  and they escaped  through  a gap  in the crowd.

The people were stunned. Many of  them fell in their haste to run away. I lost my head too. I ran and climbed  one of the  tall  trees, then hung on tightly and closed my eyes. The rhinos  seemed  to be right below me, heaving deep breaths. I felt dizzy, lost my grip on  the tree and  fell on  the rhino's back, it seemed.

I had  fallen on Lahiam, who had been crawling  around at the  foot of the tree. It had been Lahiam panting  a while ago, not  the rhino. Lahiam winced and complained  that his back hurt.

The others had been just as frightened  as I had. Lahiam had been unable  to stand up. I heard  there were  even some who couldn't  help peeing  in their pants. It was the hunters who ran the fastest and were  the first to climb trees. There was a dignitary  from the town who was said  to be brave. But when he saw  the  rhinos approaching, he quickly flung his rifle away and climbed the nearest tall  tree.

"The  rifle, sir, the rifle!!" people yelled  to him. And what was his reply? "You can  take  the rifle and use your eyes for bullets  !"

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 3/4

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 3/4

Early  in the morning of the third day people came  from a nearby  plantation and  reported that some  rhinos had come into their village  the night before. Trackers  were sent to have a look and  they came back saying  the animals had gone from the village  into the forest near our ambush.

Beaters  surrounded this part of the  forest, and  trackers kept on the move  to make sure the animals had not slipped out of the forest. Everyone  felt sure that the rhinos were inside the circle of beaters.  The hunters who had picked the ambush  spot were highly praised for having  chosen so well.

Everyone  waited  anxiously.

Fires were lit on the south and east sides of the  forest.

There was a strong wind and the fire blazed high, sending smoke  up  into the sky. To the west  there was shouting, and the drums kept beating  loudly.  The  fire spread quickly,  its flames  licking out  in all directions,  thundering and  roaring and blackening  the sky. When  the fire from the east joined that  from  the south,  the smoke  billowed  still higher. The circle of beaters kept growing smaller, and presently the sound of  loud  rifle are was heard over  the shouting and  the drums.

It was  terribly  frightening: sitting on a branch with your heart thumping, trying  to keep as still as possible.  I got down and  joined  the shouting crowd.

We could hear the  rhinos coming from the burning  forest.

A crowd of people  came  shouting  toward  the dry field, overgrown with weeds and small trees. There were only a few tall  trees.  The rhinos suddenly  appeared  from the cast, looking like huge, rolling boulders.

People were  shouting:  "Rhino ! Rhino  !" The drums grew louder.

The rhinos kept on walking  to the west. There were  three of  them: a male, a female,  and one offspring. When  they saw people surrounding  them,  they turned back  toward  the east and stopped again when they  reached  the edge of  the forest. They seemed to be afraid of the  fire, and the smoke was suffocating;  so they  turned back  to the west but were blocked by  the people.  In the end,  looking bewildered,  the rhinos stood  in the middle of  the dry field. There was no doubt that the biggest one was a male. It  bellowed,  its mouth wide open. God ! I can still  remember  the terrible redness of its mouth and  its dreadful teeth.

The dignitaries  shouted orders,  telling  the people  to move closer. Flames and smoke billowed in a tall black wall. The weeds were burnt to a crisp. The rhinos were already  troubled, sensing that they were  in danger. The only way out was to the north. But strangely  they did not want  to run that way. It was as if they had sensed  our presence.  They .seemed  to be  thinking,  gazing  toward the southwest  horizon.

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Within  three days the viceroy and other high officials of the district came for a rhino hunt. Our master summoned the headmen of the surrounding villages,  together with many hunters and trackers and porters, as an escort  for the dignitaries.

After everyone had gathered  together at dawn, we set out for  the forest, The officials were on horseback  and  the village people followed behind, carrying  spears and knives and bamboo drums. Porters  carried  food  in bags and baskets made of bark and string; otherwise,  they were unarmed except for their machetes.

Now, hunting  rhinos is quite different from hunting other animals. You have  to set up a base of operations  in the forest and bring enough food  for  three or four days. So we brought along many bags of rice and pots to cook it in, besides  the rice  that was already  prepared.

"And what was your  load?" I asked.

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 1/4

The Rhinoceros Hunt

The Rhinoceros Hunt part 1/4

Editors' Note. This story was originally written in Sundanese,  the language of western Java,  in 1932. Most of the people  there are Muslims and  observe  the fast of Ranadan,  the month  during which  no one eats or smokes between  sunrise and sunset  each day. The rhinoceroses of this story  are a rare  species with a single  horn, found only  in Java. The breed  is now in danger of extinction  and  is being protected by the government.

That morning I woke up late. It was  just after eight, and the day was already getting hot. I was very hungry,  but even after I'd had a bath  there was still no sign of anyone with my breakfast. Curious,  I went out into  the garden and walked around the house  to look  in the kitchen windows. There wasn't even  the smell of cooking. Wondering what was the matter,  I lit a cigarette.

Just then Momo and Datje came  into  the garden. Seeing me, they stopped and Momo  said,  as though surprised:  "Why are you smoking?"

The Story of Helly part 7/7

The Story of Helly part 7/7

The old man closed his eyes and said  loudly:  “Let Helly be young and beautiful just as she was the  first day she came here.”

Helly  looked  and saw  that everything  was as before,  as though she had just stepped into the garden. And  there, coming  out of the distant flowers, was her mother  running toward  her. Helly  ran to meet her. They hugged each other, crying with happiness  and laughing with  joy.

Helly said: “Mother, Mother,  please don’t send me away from home any more. I don’t want a garden  full of  flowers. I don’t want parrots and nightingales.  I don’t want  to be painted,  nor  to be hit ‘ding, dang, dong.’ Please  take me home.  . . .”

Helly’s mother was shaking Helly and saying:  “Helly, Helly, wake up. It’s morning  and  the sun  is shining. You’ve  had quite enough sleep.”

The Story of Helly part 6/7

The Story of Helly part 6/7

The old man said:  “All right, then, that’s what  I’ll do.” Helly said to herself  “If  the children can hear me,  I’ll scream so hard  that they’ll get  tired of me and ask  the old man to send me home.”

But  the old man knew what she was thinking and said:

“All right, I’ll make  it so the children  not only can hear you but will like your screams as well.”

Then he said with a loud voice: “Helly, become a sounding iron.” And with  these words Helly found  that she had been turned into a big flat piece of iron.

Then  the old man took Helly to the nearby schoolyard  and hung her up by a chain  to be used as a school bell. When  it was  time  for  recess, the school  janitor  took a big club and banged  on the sounding-iron so hard  that Helly shouted: “My belly! My belly! Ding, dang, dong!” Over and over again: “My belly ! My belly! Ding, dang, dong!”

And at the sound of Helly’s screams  the children ran out of their  classrooms onto  the playground.  They clapped their hands,  laughed,  played,  and danced, delighted  to be outdoors and free of their studies.

The Story of Helly part 5/7

The Story of Helly  part 5/7

The old man said:  “No, I’ll send you any place you want to go in my garden, but you can’t go home until you appreciate  it.”

“Well  then,” said Helly, “at  least put me where there are other children  to play with.”

The old man said: “All right,  if that’s what you want. But what will happen if you start bothering  them?”

“Oh,”  said Helly, “I promise  not to do  that.” But to herself she said:  “Maybe I couldn’t cope with  the birds but I can certainly handle  children. I’ll make  them so tired of me they’ll beg the old man to send me home.”

The Story of Helly part 4/7

The Story of Helly part 4/7

Presently the boy brought  some grain  to feed  the birds’ They swarmed  around  the  feeding  tray and began gobbling up the grain. When Helly came and tried  to get a bite,  they flew at her again. And again  she had  to retreat  to the far corner of the cage, where she sat and thought how hungry

she was.

She said  to herself:  “What a world  ! What a horrible world  ! Nobody ever worries about me. Nobody  ever  thinks  that I too need  food and water.  I’m all alone here.”

Then she went and asked  the other birds  to please give her some of the grain and let her have some water,  but they didn’t  answer. None  of  the hens and  roosters  and doves took pity on her. Instead, whenever Helly came  near  them  they would peck her on the head. They pecked her so much  that part of  the crest  fell off her head. And  finally she quit talking entirely, she quit walking around,  she quit pecking, and she quit begging  for food and water. All she did was sit  in her far corner of the cage and murmur:  “What  a world  ! What a horrible world ! No water,  no food.”

One day she  remembered  the old man and said  to herself: “I wish he were here now and would ask how I’m feeling. I’d tell him, all right, how horrible everything  is. I’d tell him  I’d do anything he wanted,  go wherever  he wanted me to go, if only he would set me free and let me be happy again.”

The Story of Helly part 3/7

The Story of Helly part 3/7

Her mother answered:  “This is the old man’s garden.”

But Helly couldn’t believe  that her mother would leave her here all alone  in a green and  flowery garden. So she laughed  and said: “I’m the way  I am and as long as I live I won’t change. If you leave me here,  I’ll bother  the old man so much  that he’ll get sick and tired of me and send me back home.”

Helly’s mother  said nothing and  took her  to the old man. He  lived  in a white marble palace  in the center  of the garden. Her mother greeted the old man, sat down, and said: “Well, old man,  I’11  leave my girl here with you. When she’s  learned to behave herself you can send her home.” Then  she got up, said good-bye, and started  to leave.

Helly yelled:  “Mother, Mother! I don’t want  to stay with this old man.  I don’t want  to stay here.”

But her mother  made no reply. She walked  on  into the garden  and disappeared  among  the flowers and trees. The old man said  to Helly:  “Well, baby, come  here. So here you are and here you stay. Now where would you like to live?”

The Story of Helly part 2/7

The Story of Helly part 2/7

One evening a wise old man  from a distant city came  to visit Helly’s mother. She  told  the old man how Helly bothered everyone,  even the dog, and how nobody  liked her. The old man thought  for a while and  then said:   “You know, I think your daughter  doesn’t appreciate her home and her neighborhood. If she did, she wouldn’t  be always bothering everyone. The trouble is that she has never been sad and unhappy  because  she was  lonely. Now, I  think you should  send her somewhere  far  from home where she would be by herself and very, very  lonely.”

Helly’s mother  laughed and said: “How could I send her away? Where could I send her  to be  lonely?  Is there a place where no one could hear her voice and her crying? Where? Where?”

The Story of Helly part 1/7

The Story of Helly

The Story of Helly part 1/7

It wasn’t a thousand years ago, nor a hundred years  either. It was  just two years ago or maybe last year.  In our neighborhood,  in our lane,  there  lived a girl whose name was Helly, and she was eight years old. As a matter of fact,  in our neighborhood,  in our lane, many boys and girls were living. There was a girl named Zari. Zai did embroidery  and a little housework. She also washed dishes,  brought  tea, and washed the cups and saucers  occasionally,  but she could not clean  greasy plates very well.

Another girl was called Lilly. She sang songs. She had memorized several  long  songs. Whenever anyone  asked her, she would sing one of these songs. But she never  sang when she was by herself, nor did she sing when her brother was studying or doing his homework.

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