The Palace of the Eagles

The Palace of the Eagles

Far to the east, where the first rays of the sun touch the sea, lay a great and fertile kingdom. Its fields gave generous grain, its gardens were full of fruit, and its rivers held plenty of water. The people had grown used to abundance. They hardly ever thought that a harvest could be poor or that the rains might not come on time. The king did not think of such things either. He loved festivals, outings, and long rides more than the work of ruling. When advisers brought him scrolls of important decisions, he often waved a hand. “You are my advisers,” he said. “Decide it yourselves.” Then he hurried away to something more amusing. Years passed in this way. One summer, the sky remained cloudless for far too long. The earth dried, the grass turned yellow, and the ears of grain grew thin. The harvest was much smaller than usual. Winter came, and people began to worry. “We must share the stores carefully,” said some. “We must save grain for spring,” said others. But the stores were small. No one had grown used to setting anything aside for difficult times. When elders from the towns came to the king, he saw for the first time that people were truly afraid. The king thought, but not for long. “Beyond the mountains are lands we know nothing about,” he said. “Perhaps there are fertile fields and new roads there. I will go and see for myself.” The advisers were not certain that this was the best plan, but the king had already ordered an expedition prepared. Several experienced travelers and guards went with him, along with a wise man named Muflog. Muflog knew many languages and, people said, could even understand the voices of birds. For three days, the group climbed the stony slopes that separated the kingdom from an unknown land. On the third day, they found a narrow pass. Beyond the mountains, a different world opened before them. At first, there was an old forest. Its trees were so great that several people would have had to join hands to circle one trunk. The branches tangled high overhead, and even at noon a green half-darkness lay beneath them. The forest was strangely quiet. No birds sang. No animal stirred the branches. “It is as though everything here has fallen asleep,” whispered one traveler. For four days, they walked through the silent forest. Then the trees suddenly opened. Before them lay a wide plain. A great river crossed it, and far beyond the river rose a mountain. Something shone at its very top in the sunlight. “Rocks?” suggested the king. Muflog narrowed his eyes. “Too even for rocks. They look like towers.” They crossed the river where it was shallow and went toward the mountain. The next morning, they found an old path. Moss and grass had nearly hidden it, but it still wound upward. The road was steep. When the travelers had climbed halfway, an eagle flew above them. The great bird circled, cried out, and vanished near the summit. “Then someone lives here,” said the king. But when they reached the plateau, they saw neither village nor city. Before them stood an enormous palace. Its walls were built of dark stone. Towers rose one above another into the sky. Eagle nests rested on the cornices and roofs. But something was stranger still. There were no doors. The travelers walked around the palace once, twice, and then again. There was no gate, no window, not even a small entrance. “A palace without a way in?” said the king. “That cannot be.” On a lower tower, they saw a young eagle. The king looked at Muflog. “Can you speak with it?” The wise man stood beneath the tower and called in long, unusual sounds. The eagle tilted its head, listened, and answered with a sharp cry. “Muflog says,” the king said, “that this eagle is too young to remember anything. It is only a few hundred years old.” Everyone stared at the bird. “A few hundred years?” asked the king. “For the eagles of this palace,” said Muflog with a smile, “that seems to be very young indeed.” The young eagle told them to ask its father on a higher tower. The father eagle did not know much either. “Ask my father,” Muflog translated. “He is the oldest among us.” So they climbed still higher. On the highest tower, in a huge nest, an ancient eagle slept. Its feathers had turned gray, and its eyes were closed. Muflog called and called until the bird finally woke. When he heard the question about the palace entrance, the old eagle thought. He thought for so long that he fell asleep several times. At last, he said, “When I was a chick, my grandfather told me a story he had heard from his grandfather. People once lived in this palace. Later, it became empty, and year after year the wind blew dust and earth against the walls. Perhaps the doors were simply buried beneath them.” “But where were they?” asked Muflog. The old eagle closed his eyes again. Everyone thought he had fallen asleep, but suddenly he whispered, “The first beam of morning sun falls directly upon the doors.” Then he truly slept. That night, none of the travelers lay down. They waited for dawn. The sky grew pale. A thin golden line appeared above the distant edge of the plain. Then the first sunbeam slid along the palace wall and fell on a grassy mound at its base. “There!” cried the king. The people began to clear away the earth. First the top of a stone arch appeared. Then dark wood. At last, an old door. The key still stood in the lock. It was hard to turn, but finally the door opened slowly. Beyond it lay a long corridor. Inside, everything was covered with dust. Roots had grown between stones, and thin green shoots pushed through cracks. In the first great hall, they found an inscription. Muflog brushed away the dust and read aloud: “We lived in abundance and thought it would last forever. We gathered jewels but did not store grain. When poor harvests came, wealth could not turn itself into bread. The people left this place, and the palace became empty. Let anyone who finds our home remember: a store for tomorrow can be worth more than a chest of gold.” The hall became quiet. The king looked at the writing longer than anyone. Then they went farther and entered a room filled with stone figures of former rulers. On the highest pedestal was another sentence. Muflog read it: “Prepare for evening while the day is bright.” The king said nothing. He sat on a step for a long while. Everyone waited. At last, he stood up. “I came here to look for new lands,” he said. “Instead, I found what I lacked more: an understanding of my duty.” They took no stones or ornaments from the palace. The next morning, the group began the journey home. The road seemed shorter, though they crossed the same forest and the same mountain pass. When the king returned, people met him in the city square. “What have you brought?” they asked. “Grain? New herds? Treasure?” The king shook his head. “I have brought a decision.” From that day, he changed. First, he ordered that all stores be counted fairly and shared so that they would last until spring. Some grain was kept for planting. In the towns, storehouses were built for years of poor harvest. Canals were made beside rivers for watering fields, and farmers began to grow more than one kind of crop. The king no longer put aside the work of ruling for amusement. He listened to farmers, craftspeople, merchants, and elders. And if anyone suggested thinking about the future, he did not laugh. Time passed. The rains returned, the fields grew green again, and the storehouses filled with grain. Yet even in years of great harvest, the king ordered that part of the food be left untouched. “Why?” children sometimes asked. The grown-ups answered, “Because some things must be done not when trouble has already arrived, but while everything is still well.” People say the king never saw the Palace of the Eagles again. But on the wall of his council room, he had a short sentence carved—the one he had brought from the distant mountain: “Prepare for evening while the day is bright.” And every time the sun rose over his kingdom, those words reminded everyone that true wisdom is not having the most today. It is caring for tomorrow.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨