the eagle queen

7/29/2019 The Eagle Queen

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THE EAGLE-QUEEN

A Long time ago, a rich King lived on Nias Island. He was very fond of feasts

and he often held big feasts. Many pigs and buffaloes were caught for the feasts, and a

lot of money was spent. The King invited many people from all over the country, even

from other countries too.

One day the Queen said to the King.

We have these big feasts much too often, my husband. It takes so much money.

I dont think we should have them so often. But the King didnt listen to her. He held

bigger and bigger feasts. At last the Queen grew tired of the Kings feasts.

In Nias, a big feast lasts for many days, and it doesnt end before the hosts

brothers-in-law come. They usually come a few days before the high point of the feast.

One day, the King decided to hold another big feast. It was near the high point

of the feast, and his brother-in-law had to be invited. It was a Nias custom that either

the King or the Queen had to go to the Queens brother to invite them personally. This

time the Queen asked the King.

Please let me go to my brothers house. Im bored at home and I want to go out

and leave the palace once in a while. But the King also wanted to go, so he said.

Dear wife, I want to go too. This is the right time for me to talk with them to

make sure that the high point of the feast will be a success. We cant leave the Kingdom

together, you know that. One of us should stay to check on the feast preparations. Please

understand. Its important for the success of our feast. Our people will not respect us if

the feast in not perfect. So the King went to see his brother-in-law.

Feeling sad, the Queen went for a walk around the palace, and then she sat for a

while in the garden. She did not watch the feast preparations. She was thinking. As shewas sitting and thinking, she saw an eagle flying freely, high up in the sky.

Oh, eagle, she said, If had wings like you, Id fly wherever I wanted to. Oh,

how happy Id be.

The eagle heard the Queens words. She sounded do that it flew down to her.

Oh, my Queen, said eagle, You sound so sad. Let me help you. The Queen

was very surprised. Can you help me? she asked.

I shall do my best, my dear Queen, answered the eagle.


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What a wonderful eagle. But just how can you help me?

Well, we can exchange bodies. Ill give you my wings so you can fly, and you

give me your clothes and jewelry, said the eagle.

But I dont want to be an eagle forever and ever, said the Queen. I just want

to leave the palace for a few days. After that, I want to come back and help mu husband

because I love him very much.

If you really love him, then why do you want to fly away? asked the eagle.

Oh, clever eagle, the queen smiled, Im bored with the feasts. Weve had too

many feasts, and I dont like them. I just want to get away for a while and then come

back again to my duties as the Kings wife.

I see, said the eagle. Then the eagle gave its wings to the Queen, and the

Queen gave her body, clothes and jewelry to the eagle. The eagle wore the Queens

clothes and jewelry, and looked very much like the real Queen. It then became the

unreal Queen. At the same time, the Queen wore the eagles wings and she looked like

an eagle. She became the eagle-Queen.

The eagle-Queen flew up in the clear sky and flew down to earth again. After

some time, her flying became much better, and she flew to her brothers house. Her

husband and her brother were having lunch. Suddenly one of them saw the eagle.

Look, what a strange bird. Why does it sit on the tuasa? Suddenly the eagle

came to the dining table, took a piece of meat and ate it on the tuasa. Everybody was

shocked at the bird when in suddenly spoke to the King.

My dear King, please return home. Go back to your palace immediately. Your

people need you right now.

The King stopped eating his lunch and hurried back to his palace. When he

reached the front yard of the palace, he saw the unreal Queen. She was walking in thegarden, and she looked normal, so he thought that there was nothing to worry about.

Then he checked the preparation for the feasts. Everybody was busy and everything

looked all right. Nothing seemed unusual at all. The King wondered.

Why did the talking bird ask me to hurry home? Then the King saw his wife.

He called her but she didnt answer.

Maybe shes still angry and disappointed in me, the King thought.


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Meanwhile, the eagle-Queen was sitting on top a coconut tree in the palace

garden. It said to the unreal Queen.

Please serve the King. Hes very tired. Give him a glass of water and help him

with the feast preparations.

The King looked up and he saw the same eagle.

What is really happening here? My wife is over there, but this eagle here

sounds very much like mi wife. The King was confused and didnt know what to do.

Who are you, strange bird? How can you talk like a human being? he asked

the eagle-Queen.

Oh, Im just an eagle, my King, answered the eagle-Queen.

But why is your voice very much like my wifes? The bird didnt answer.

Meanwhile the unreal Queen was busy watching some chickend in the palace

yard. Sometimes she ran after the chickens. She looked like she was trying to catch one

of them. Some of the palace servants were watching the unreal Queen.

Look! The Queen is acting very strangely. Shes not herself, is she? after some

time the unreal Queen became very hungry. She could no longer help herself. She

quickly caught one chicken. The palace servants came to the unreal Queen, and what

did they see? The Queen was sitting on a rock, holding the dead chicken. Her hands and

mouth were full of blood. The servants cried out in horror and ran away. The King

heard the noise in the yard. When the King saw the unreal Queen, he knew something

terrible was happening to his wife. Then he got angry and shouted to the unreal Queen.

Go away, youre not my wife. I dont know who you are, but youre not my

wife. Go away, or Ill kill you.

The eagle quickly came down from the coconut tree and asked the King in a

high voice.Please, ky King, dont kill her. Dont her, please. Please, listen to me. Stop!

Dont do it! But the King didnt want to listen. The eagle tried to persuade the King

once again.

Please, Your Highness, if you kill her, Ill always be a bird, Ill never be a

human being again. But her voice was not loud enouch. The King was getting really

angry. All he wanted to do was to kill unreal Queen.

For the last time the eagle-Queen asked the King.


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Please dont kill her! She has my body. Im your wife, but she has my body.

Please....

No, I dont believe you eagle! The King was really angry and could not think

clearly about the birds words. He ran after the unreal Queen and killed her with his

knife. Then he cut her to pieces. The eagle-Queen cried out loudly. Then she said.

Your Highness, from now on your wife will always be an eagle. Ill be an eagle

forever, because I have lost my body. You have cut my body to pieces. After saying

that, she cried very sadly.

Suddenly the King realized his mistake. It was a terrible mistake. His face turned

pale.

Oh, no. why id I do that? Please, forgive me, my dear wife. The King felt so

terrible that he didnt know what to do.

After a while the eagle-Queen said to the King.

Being an eagle, I cant live here as your Queen. Our people will hate me, so I

must fly away now. I hope youll get a new wife soon.

No, said the King, You must stay here with me. I love you very much. I dont

want to lose you. Stay here and Ill be happy. We must be together until we die.

The eagle-Queen looked at her husband. She did not want to leave him and

make him suffer. The eagle-Queen then came down from the coconut tree and lived

with the King. The King took very good care of her. He even cooked for her, and both

of them were happy.

Meanwhile the high point of the feast was going near. The King felt guilty

looking at his wife. He had made her become an eagle, and yet still had his big feast.

Dear wife, I promise you, Ill stop having big feasts. This feast will be the last

one, and then well live together peacefully. Tears rolled down from the eagle-Queenseyes, but they were happy tears. She was very touched by her husbands words and

happy to see the good changes in him. He could now see his own mistakes and was

willing to change his bad habits.

Two days before the feast reached its highest point, the Queens brothers

arrived. The King and all his men welcomed them. A group of women welcomed the

female guests. Suddenly the Queens brother asked the King.


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Wheres your wife? We havent seen her in front of the palace. She must

welcome the female guests as our custom teaches us. Now where is she? Is she sick?

The King did not say a word. He looked very sad. Then he asked the Queens brothers

to enter the palace. When everybody was seated inside the palace, the king told them the

truth. One of them said.

How do we explain this to our honored guests? They will surely ask to see your

wife. Remember, at the highest point of the feast, you and your wife will be given

honorable titles by the guests. It was a custom of Nias people that at the highest point

of the feast, the King was given a title such as Rajo Solakhomi (the authoritative

King) and the Queen was given a title such as Futi Belaki (the jewelry Queen).

Then the eldest of the Queens brothers said.

The only thing you can do now is to take a new wife to be your Queen. This

made the King very sad. Meanwhile, the eagle-Queen heard all these conversations. She

was deeply hurt, but she realized that she was a burden to the King. When the King was

alone, she came to him and said,

If stay here, I am a burden to you. I must leave the palace so that you can get a

new wife. Then there wont be any trouble during the feast. I beg you, please let e go!

But the King loved his wife so much that he didnt want her to go. At last, the

eagle-Queen flew up in the sky far away from the palace. The King watched the bird fly

away and then he ran out of the palace. He followed the eagle wherever it flew. He ran

through the forests and across the rivers. He tried his best to follow his wife. The eagle-

Queen saw what the King was doing and she was touched by his love. At last she came

down and sat on a rock next to the King. The King was resting as he was quite tired

from running. When the King grew thirsty, she took a coconut and gave it to him. He

drank the juice and slept under a tree. The King and his eagle-Queen was in deepsorrow. She dug a hole and buried the King. The earth on top of the grave turned a

strange yellow. The eagle-Queen planted a coconut tree at the head of the grave. The

tree grew tall and became her resting place when she was tired.

Every day she flew far away, but she always came back before it was dark and

she could still see the yellow earth on top of her husbands grave.

Nowadays, whenever Nias people see an eagle flying near coconut tress and

crying aloud, they say that the eagle-Queen is crying for her beloved husband.


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Disusun oleh :

IRMA AGUSTIN

Kelas : VII C

SMP NEGERI 9 CIREBON

TAHUN 2010

the eagle queen

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