By Dhan Gopal Mukerji

At last we reached the homeland of the eagles. Around us were bare granite cliffs surrounded by fir-trees and stunted pines； before us to the north lay the Kangchenjunga and the Qomolangma ranges. Here， on the edge of an abyss， we released our two birds. In that exhilarating air they flew like children running from school at the end of the day. Gay-Necks mother flew far upwards in order to show her son the sublime heights.

After the two birds had flown away， we three men talked of what they might be seeing as they sped above the altitudes. Before them， no doubt， rose the twin peaks of the Kangchenjunga group， slightly lower than Mount Qomolangma but just as impeccable and austere as that immaculate peak untrodden still by the feet of men.1 That fact roused profound emotions in us. We saw the mountain in the distance， just for a few minutes， like a mirror before the Face of God， and I said to myself：“O thou summit of sanctity， thou inviolate and eternal， no man may tarnish thee， nor may any mortal stain thy purity even by his slightest touch. May thou remain forever unvanquished2， O thou backbone of the universe， and measurement of immortality.”

But I have brought you so high not to tell you about mountains， but of an adventure that befell us there. Now that Gay-Neck and his mother had flown， we gave up watching them and went in quest of an eagles nest that was on a neighbouring cliff. The Himalayan eagle is brown with a soft golden glow and though very beautiful to look at—it is in perfect proportion of beauty with strength—yet it is a fierce beast of prey.

But at first on this particular afternoon we encountered nothing savage. On the contrary， we found two fluffy white eaglets in an eyrie. They looked as engaging as new-born babes. The southern wind was blowing right in their eyes， but they did not mind it. It is in the nature of the Himalayan eagle to build his nest facing the direction of the wind. Why？ No one knows. Apparently the bird likes to face that which he floats up on.

The younglings were nearly three weeks old， for they were already shedding their birthday cotton-like appearance， and had begun to grow real plumage3. Their talons were sharp enough for their age， and their beaks hard and keen.

An eagles eyrie is open and large. Its entranceledge—that is to say， landing-place—is about six or seven feet wide， and quite clean. But within，where it is dark and narrow， there is a perfect litter of twigs， branches， and a little of the hair and feathers of victims， every other part of their prey being devoured by the eaglets. The parents devour most of the bones， hair and feathers with the meat.

They had flown for about half an hour when a hawk appeared above them. It drew nearer the two pigeons and then drove at them. But the prey proved too wary； they escaped scatheless7. Just as Gay-Neck and his mother were coming down swiftly to where the trees were， the hawks mate appeared and attacked. She flew at them as her husband had done， without gaining her objective. Seeing that their prey was escaping， the male hawk cried shrilly to his mate； at that， she stopped in the air， just marking time. The pigeons， feeling safe， quickened their wing motion and flew southwards， while the two hawks followed， converging upon them from the east and the west. Wing-beat upon wing-beat， they gained on the pigeons. Their wings， shaped like a butchers hatchet tipped off at the end， cut through the air like a storm... one， two， three—they fell like spears！ Gay-Necks mother stopped， and just floated in the air. That upset the calculation of the hawks. What to do now？ Which one to fall upon？ Such questioning takes time， and GayNeck seized the chance to change his course. Swiftly he rose higher and higher. In a few moments his example was followed by his mother， but she had lost time， and the hawks rose almost vaulting8 up to her. Then apparently a sudden panic seized her； she was afraid that the hawks were after her son， and in order to protect him she flew towards the two pursuers. In another minute both of those birds of prey had pounced upon her. The air was filled with a shower of feathers！ The sight frightened Gay-Neck， who fell upon the nearest cliff for protection and safety. It was his mothers error that deprived her of her own life and probably imperiled that of her son.

We three human beings began a search for the cliff where Gay-Neck had fallen. It was no easy task， for the Himalayas are very treacherous9. Pythons， if not tigers， were to be feared. Yet my friend Radja insisted， and Ghond the hunter agreed with him， saying that it would augment our knowledge.

We descended from the cliff that we were on and entered a narrow gorge where the raw bones lying on the ground convinced us that some beast of prey had dined on its victim the previous night. But we were not frightened， for our leader was Ghond， the most well-equipped hunter of Bengal. Very soon we began a laborious climb through clefts and crevices full of purple orchids on green moss. The odour of fir and balsam filled our nostrils. Sometimes we saw a rhododendron still in bloom. The air was cold and the climb unending. After two in the afternoon， having lunched on a handful of chola （dried beans softened in water）， we reached the cliff where Gay-Neck was hiding. To our surprise we discovered that it was the eagles nest with two eaglets—the babies of our previous visit—now full-fledged. They were sitting on the front ledge of their eyrie， while to our utter amazement we saw Gay-Neck at the farthest corner of a neighbouring ledge， cowering and weak. At our approach the eaglets came forward to attack us with their beaks. Radja， whose hand was nearest， received an awful stroke that ripped open the skin of his thumb， whence blood flowed freely. The eagles were between us and Gay-Neck， and there was nothing to be done but to climb over a higher cliff to reach him. Hardly had we gone six yards away from the nest when Ghond signed to us to hide as we had done the first time we had come. We did so with celerity10， under a pine， and soon， with a soft roar in the air， one of the parent eagles drew near. In a few seconds there fell a high-pitched sound as the eagle sailed into its nest. A shiver of exquisite pleasure ran up and down my spine as her tail-feather grazed our tree and I heard that whistling mute itself.

Soon we reached Gay-Neck and tried to put him in his cage. He was glad to see us， but fought shy of the cage. Since it was getting late， I gave him some lentils to eat. Just about the middle of his meal， seeing him deeply absorbed in eating， I made an effort to grab him with my hand. That frightened the poor bird， and he flew away. The noise of his flight brought the mother eagle out of the inner recess of her nest. She looked out， her beak quivering and her wings almost opening for flight. At once all the jungle noises below were stilled， and she sailed away. We felt that all was over for GayNeck. Suddenly a shadow fell upon him. I thought it was the eagle pouncing； however， it rested on him only a moment and then receded， but he had had the fright of his life， and he flew away， driven by sheer terror， in a zigzag course， far beyond our sight.

最后，我們到達(dá)了鷹的故鄉(xiāng)。我們四周是裸露的花崗巖懸崖，懸崖被冷杉叢和矮松團(tuán)團(tuán)圍住，我們北面橫亙著干城章嘉峰和珠穆朗瑪峰。我們來(lái)到了一道深淵的邊緣，在這里放出了兩只鴿子。在那種令人爽快的空氣中，他們像一天結(jié)束后跑出學(xué)校的孩子們一樣飛翔。彩虹鴿的母親向上遠(yuǎn)飛，以便向她的兒子展示崇高的云天。

兩只鴿子飛走之后，我們?nèi)齻€(gè)人談鴿子飛過(guò)那些高峰時(shí)會(huì)看到什么。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，他們面前會(huì)矗立著干城章嘉的兩座山峰，比珠穆朗瑪峰稍低些，但就像那座沒(méi)有留下人類足跡的完美山峰一樣圣潔而樸素。這一事實(shí)在我們心里激起了深厚的情感。我們從遠(yuǎn)處看那座山，就幾分鐘，像上帝面前的一面鏡子，我對(duì)自己說(shuō)：“噢，你這圣潔的高峰，你這神圣與永恒，沒(méi)有人會(huì)玷污你，甚至也沒(méi)有任何人會(huì)以最輕微的觸碰玷污你的純凈。愿你永遠(yuǎn)不被征服，噢，你這宇宙的脊梁和不朽的度量?！?/p>

但是，我給你講述這些高峰，并不是想告訴你有關(guān)山脈的情況，而是要講述我們?cè)谀抢锏囊淮螝v險(xiǎn)。因?yàn)椴屎瑛澞缸觽z已經(jīng)飛走了，所以我們不再望向他們，而是開(kāi)始尋找鷹巢，鷹巢就在附近的一個(gè)懸崖上。喜馬拉雅山鷹呈棕色，閃著金黃色的柔光，羽毛看上去非常漂亮——是漂亮與力量的完美均衡——但他們也是一種兇猛的肉食動(dòng)物。

然而，在這個(gè)不尋常的下午，我們起初沒(méi)有遇到什么野獸。相反，我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)鷹巢里發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩只毛茸茸的小白鷹。他們看上去像新生兒一樣迷人。南風(fēng)正吹進(jìn)他們的眼里，但他們并不在意。把巢筑在迎風(fēng)的方向，是喜馬拉雅山鷹的本性。為什么？沒(méi)有人知道。顯然，這種鳥(niǎo)喜歡迎風(fēng)站立，在風(fēng)中他會(huì)飄浮起來(lái)。

兩只小鷹快三個(gè)星期大了，因?yàn)樗麄円呀?jīng)脫掉了生下來(lái)時(shí)像棉花一樣的外衣，開(kāi)始長(zhǎng)出真正的羽毛。對(duì)他們這么大的鷹來(lái)說(shuō)，爪子已足夠尖利，喙也堅(jiān)硬鋒利。

鷹巢開(kāi)闊寬大。鷹巢的入口平臺(tái)——也就是降落處——大約有六七英尺寬，而且相當(dāng)干凈。但是，里面陰暗狹窄，堆滿了大大小小的樹(shù)枝、獵物的毛發(fā)和羽毛，獵物的其他部分都被小鷹吞吃掉了。鷹爸爸、鷹媽媽連骨帶肉，摻雜著毛發(fā)和羽毛，吞吃掉了獵物的大部分。

盡管懸崖周?chē)L(zhǎng)著矮松，但還是充滿了鳥(niǎo)叫聲。另外，還有奇怪的昆蟲(chóng)在冷杉叢中嗡嗡叫著。寶石般的蒼蠅扇動(dòng)藍(lán)色的翅膀，飛過(guò)淡紫色的蘭花；大片大片大大小小的杜鵑花絢麗奪目，有時(shí)像月亮一樣大。偶爾傳來(lái)一聲野貓叫，顯然是在午睡時(shí)的囈語(yǔ)。

突然，剛德讓我們跑出十二碼遠(yuǎn)，藏在一個(gè)灌木叢里。我們剛藏好，周?chē)泥须s聲就開(kāi)始減弱了。又過(guò)了一分鐘，昆蟲(chóng)不再嗡嗡叫了，鳥(niǎo)兒也停止了鳴叫，就連樹(shù)木也好像因充滿期待而一動(dòng)不動(dòng)。慢慢地，空中響起了一陣微弱的呼嘯聲。又過(guò)了一陣子，呼嘯聲變得更低了。緊接著，一種奇異的尖叫聲傳來(lái)，一只巨大的鳥(niǎo)兒飛落到鷹巢邊。風(fēng)還在巨鳥(niǎo)的翅膀里呼嘯著。根據(jù)巨鳥(niǎo)的體型，剛德認(rèn)為那是兩只小鷹的母親。她停在空中一動(dòng)不動(dòng)，直到小鷹退到鷹巢的最里面。母鷹的爪子上掛著一只被完全剝掉皮的東西，像一只大兔子。母鷹落下來(lái)，把獵物放在巢穴入口的平臺(tái)上。你可以看到她張開(kāi)的翅膀有六英尺寬。她像人疊紙一樣收攏翅膀；然后，看到她的孩子們向她奔來(lái)，她收起爪子，以免刺傷小鷹沒(méi)有盔甲的嫩肉。這時(shí)候，母鷹像瘸子一樣跛行。兩個(gè)小家伙跑過(guò)來(lái)，鉆到了她半張半合的翅膀下面，消失不見(jiàn)了，但他們不想處在母親的羽翼之下，因?yàn)樗麄凁I了。于是，母鷹帶著他們走到死兔旁邊，撕掉一些兔肉，剔除上面的骨頭，扔給他們吞吃。下面和周?chē)猪懫鹆讼x(chóng)鳥(niǎo)的叫聲。我們從藏身的地方站起來(lái)向家里走去。拉迪亞和我纏著剛德讓他答應(yīng)我們，等小鷹羽毛豐滿后，他再帶我們來(lái)看。

于是，一個(gè)多月后，我們又回到了這里。我們帶來(lái)了彩虹鴿母子倆，因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ屎瑛澾M(jìn)行第二次飛翔，以便他確切地了解每一個(gè)村莊、每一座喇嘛廟、每一個(gè)湖泊與河流，以及野獸和其他鳥(niǎo)類——鶴、鸚鵡、喜馬拉雅蒼鷺、大雁、潛鳥(niǎo)、雀鷹和雨燕。在這次旅途上，我們?cè)诰嚯x鷹巢一百碼遠(yuǎn)的地方走動(dòng)。秋天的手指已經(jīng)觸碰到了杜鵑花?；鸺t的花瓣紛紛凋謝；數(shù)英尺高的長(zhǎng)莖干在風(fēng)中颯颯作響。許多樹(shù)的葉子已經(jīng)開(kāi)始變黃，到處都充滿了憂郁的氣息。十一點(diǎn)鐘左右，我們打開(kāi)鳥(niǎo)籠，兩只鴿子飛向?qū)毷{(lán)的天空，猶如白色山峰上的船帆一樣。