English Original
An American Indian tells of a warrior who found an eagle's egg and placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched among the brood of chicks and grew up with them.
All its life, the changeling eagle, believing itself to be a prairie chicken, did as they did. It scratched the dirt for seeds and insects. It clucked and cackled. And it flew in a brief, frantic flurry of wings, never more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that was how prairie chickens flew.
Years passed, and the changeling eagle grew old. One day, it saw a magnificent bird high in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
"What a beautiful bird!" said the changeling eagle to its neighbor. "What is it?"
"That is an eagle—the chief of all birds," clucked the neighbor. "But don't give it a second thought. You could never be like him."
So the changeling eagle never gave it a second thought. It died believing it was a prairie chicken.
中文翻译
一位美洲原住民讲述了一个故事：一位勇士发现了一枚鹰蛋，并将其放入了一只草原鸡的巢中。小鹰在一窝小鸡中孵化，并与它们一同长大。
这只被调换的鹰一生都以为自己是一只草原鸡，并做着草原鸡所做的一切。它在泥土中刨食种子和昆虫。它咯咯叫，叽叽喳喳。它飞行时，翅膀短暂而慌乱地扑腾，羽毛纷飞，离地不过几英尺。毕竟，草原鸡就是这样飞的。
多年过去，这只被调换的鹰老了。一天，它看到万里无云的天空中高高地飞翔着一只壮丽的鸟。它凭借强大的气流，以优雅威严的姿态翱翔，几乎不用扇动它那强壮的金色翅膀。
“多美的鸟啊！”被调换的鹰对它的邻居说。“那是什么？”
“那是鹰——百鸟之王，”邻居咯咯地说道。“但别再多想了。你永远不可能像它那样。”
于是，这只被调换的鹰再也没有多想。它至死都认为自己是一只草原鸡。