As he grew older he found the weight of the chicks increasingly difficult to bear. What is more, what with feathers and bones - not to speak of the bits that inevitably slipped off into cracks between the rocks as he tore away at the carcass - he reckoned he was consuming less than half the load he carried home.

One night, an idea came to him: "Why not steal eggs instead of chicks?" he asked himself. "I could hatch them myself and when they come out I could eat the whole chick before it develops feathers."

The next night, he carried out the first part of his plan. He flew down to the farm and stealthily stole one egg at a time. It was a risky business. He had to sneak into the chicken pen and quietly remove an egg without waking the hens. By morning, he had made five trips and had amassed five eggs in the nest.

For the next month, he sat on them at night to keep them warm and went about his business as usual during the day. Finally one day, the eggs cracked and out came the chicks. The hawk was horrified at what he saw. He had never seen new-born chicks before - they were dripping with slime, had big heads, long slender necks and were extremely skinny. "How can I possibly eat such a thing?" he exclaimed to himself. He then decided that he had to feed them up a little to make them more meaty and appetising.

There was only one way open to him. He had to teach them how to fend for themselves. He began by teaching them how to fly. They were willing and keen learners but their wings were simply too small to carry their body weight. he then taught them how to tear with their beaks, but their beaks were just too short.

After weeks of trying, he was forced to make the heart-rending decision to return them to the farm where they belonged. It was a difficult decision to make. Furthermore, if he was seen returning chicks to the farm, he would be laughed out of the area. Despite this he took off early that night with the first chick. Ironically, he found it much heavier to carry than the chicks he used to steal from the farm. Nevertheless, he tolerated the physical fatigue and flew up and down the valley five times. By morning all five chicks were deposited in the yard of the farm.

Despite his utter exhaustion, the hawk hovered over the farm to watch over his chicks. When dawn broke, the hens and the roosters came out with their chicks. The hens pecked away and fed their young. The five chicks, hungry, turned their heads skywards and chirped away. The hens noticed this and called the roosters together. "They may look like us but they are not, you know." they said to one another. "They may be intruders in disguise. Anyway, we cannot take the risk." After a brief conference they turned on the five chicks and pecked them to death.

The hawk watched with a broken heart but there was nothing he could do. He flew home slowly, weeping.

A farmer on his way up the mountain suddenly felt a drop of water falling on his forehead. He said to himself, "Strange! The sky is clear with only one hawk flying about and yet I swear I felt a drop of rain."