There was once a man who had never seen an eagle. One day a magnificent eagle landed on his windowsill, and when he saw it, he exclaimed, What an ugly creature! The man grabbed the eagle and pulled it into his house. First, Im going to fix that curved beak of yours. He used a file to remove the hook in the eagles beak. Those claws are vicious looking, the man said as he clipped the eagles claws until there was little left. When he finished, the man said, There, now you look better. And he put the bird back on his open windowsill and shooed it away. You can imagine how long the newly trimmed eagle lasted in the wild.

Discussion

The man changed the bird drastically in this story. Without valuing the birds special qualities, the man altered the bird to what he thought would be better.

Questions

1)Think about the eagle for a moment. How important do you think it is for the eagle to have its claws and sharp beak?
2)Have you ever tried to change a person who is different from you?
3) Did the man know the importance of the eagles claws and beak? If he knew more about eagles, do you think he would have appreciated the eagle instead of changing it?