The hen had gone out and it was not available at home.
It was at this time that all the other birds had finished using the needle and made beautiful wings for themselves.
The last of the birds using the needle had come to the house of the hen to return the needle.
Unfortunately as the hen had gone out, the children of the hen took the needle. The children of the hen played with the needle and instead of keeping it carefully, they left the needle in the sand.
Now the eagle which had started flying well from the additional wings found that some of the wings had loosened because of the constant flying. To fix the feathers back the eagle needed the needle back. So the eagle came back to the hen's house and asked for the needle.
The hen looked around the house and everywhere but the hen could not find the needle.
She looked at the eagle shame-faced. “Please give me a day. I will find the needle so that you can fix your wings.”
The Eagle was annoyed. “I can give you only one more day. If you can't find the needle, I will take away one of your chicks instead of the needle, as payment.”
The next day and soon as the eagle came, the hen started scratching the sand to find the needle. But the hen could not find the needle. The Eagle took away one of the chicks of the hens instead. Since then whenever the eagle appeared the hen started scratching the sand for the needle. Since then the young ones of the hen also run away on seeing the shadow of the eagle because they know that eagle would carry it away as payment.
Adapted from African Folktales
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