The King And His Hawk – By James Baldwin | Short Stories For Kids Online

King Genghis Khan was so fond of his hawk but was he ready to adhere to plea of his hawk? Here is an amazing short story for kids that talks about companionship and trust. Do enjoy this story by the renowned author - James Baldwin!

There once lived a great king and warrior, his name was Genghis Khan.

He had a great army with which he conquered great kingdoms; China and Persia. In every city tales of his great deeds were told, it was believed that since Alexander the Great there had been no king like him.

 

One of the mornings he wasn’t fighting wars, he rode out into the woods to have a day’s sport. With him were his friends. They rode cheerfully, having their bows and arrows with them. The servants with the hounds came afterwards.

 

It was a great hunting party. The woods vibrated with their shouts and laughter. They expected a bountiful turnout from the day’s game.

 

On the wrist of the king sat his favorite hawk; it was customary in those days for trained hawks to partake in hunting. A word from their masters would send them soaring high up into the sky in search of prey. It they happen to see a rabbit or deer, they would glide downwards upon it fast as any arrow.

 

The game was proving to be unfruitful as the King and his Huntsmen rode through the woods. Their expectation had not been met.

 

When evening came, they journeyed back home. The king was conversant with all the paths in the woods. While others took the closest route home, he chose a longer road through a valley bounded by two mountains.

 

It had been a warm day, and the king was very thirsty. His pet hawk had flown away leaving his favorite spot on the king’s wrist. It was certain to find its way home.

 

The king moved along slowly now in search of water. One time, he had seen a spring of pure water near this path. “Only if he could find it now,” he thought. The hot summer days was upon them and had dried up all the mountain brooks.

 

To his delight, he saw water dripping down the edge of a rock. Immediately, it occurred to him that was a spring farther up. A fast flowing stream of water poured heavily down here in the wet season; now it dripped at intervals.

 

The king took from his hunting bag a silver cup as he leaped from his horse to catch a taste of the slowly dripping drops of water.

The cup got filled after a long while; the king was very thirsty that he had no time to wait. He placed the cup to his lips, and was about to drink.

 

Immediately, there was a buzzing sound in the air. The cup fell of the king’s hand and the water spilled upon the ground.

 

Then, the king looked up to see who did that. Behold, it was his pet hawk.

 

The king still thirsty, picked up his cup and held it to catch the dripping drops.

 

Because he was very thirsty, he couldn’t wait for the cup to get filled. He lifted the half filled cup to his mouth and was about to drink. But before the cup could touch his lips, the hawk glided down and knocked it off the king’s hands.

 

With the king’s anger gradually growing, he tried it for the third time but the hawk again stopped him from drinking the water. 

The king was extremely angry this time that he cried, “how dare you act this way?” I would break your neck, if I had you in my hands.

 

Again he filled his cup. But this time, he held his sword.

 

"I won't take that anymore from you," he said to the hawk.

Half way through his statement, the hawk flew down and knocked the cup off his hands. But the king having expected this act, struck the hawk with his sword as it passed.

 

“Now, this is what you get for behaving in this manner,” said the king as the poor hawk lay bleeding and almost dead at the king’s feet.

 

When he turned around in search of his cup, he found that it was trapped between two rocks beneath him where he couldn’t reach it.

 

Nevertheless, "I won't let this thirst kill me, he said, I must find the source of this water"

With determination, he made his way upward to the bank where the water dripped. It was very taxing. The higher he went, the thirstier he became.

 

Finally, he made it to the place. He found plenty of water but in it laid a very big snake, dead and of the most poisonous species.

 

The king was sad. He thought less about his thirst. His thoughts were filled with that of the dead hawk he was standing over.

 

“He was my best companion and I murdered him,” he cried, “he saved my life several times and how have I repaid him?” 

 

Slowly, he made his way to the ground, took the dead hawk and placed it in his hunting bag. He climbed his horse and journeyed home as fast as he could.

 

“It is not good to do anything in anger; this lesson I have learnt today,” he said to himself.

 

Anger is never a good characteristic. Whenever we are in distress, we should learn to control our anger. Regrets are painful. We hope you learnt a lot from this short story. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions below. Visit this site regularly for more short stories and other great interesting contents forchildren online.