Reborn in 1985: Starting from Contracting a Ranch

Chapter 26 Taming the Eagle

When it came to keeping the hawk awake, Shan Yaowen's initial idea was simple—deprive it of sleep for days and nights until it gave in.

But he later realized he was wrong, and very wrong at that.

The first thing the old Taoist priest taught Shan Yaowen was not to immediately start training the eagle, but to make leather traps for the eagle and starve it at the same time.

Take a well-tanned cowhide, cut it into strips about the width of a finger, soak it in warm water to soften it, and then tightly wrap it around the eagle's tarsus, leaving a loop. This is the leather tether, used to tie the rope.

The leather straps shouldn't be too loose, or they'll slip off; nor should they be too tight, or they'll injure its legs.

Shan Yaowen tried five or six times before he succeeded.

After the leather scaffolding was finished, they started building the scaffolding—two vertical posts and one horizontal bar.

The crossbar was wrapped with several layers of old felt to prevent slipping and freezing. The eagle was then tied to the crossbar with the rope just wide enough for it to stand on, so it couldn't fly away or fall off.

After all the preparations are done, the real training for the eagle begins.

On the first night, a chair, a scaffold, a person, a silly bird, a pot of tea, and a pack of cigarettes—the man and the eagle spent the night peacefully together.

The silly bird, however, had no idea what it was doing. It would occasionally wiggle its claws on the eagle perch or peck at the feathers under its wings.

Normally, Shan Yaowen ignores it, but when it starts to doze off, he will tap it with a stick.

"Gah~"

After a while, it wanted to sleep again, so Shan Yaowen knocked again.

The night went on like this, going back and forth.

The next day, Shan Yaowen wanted to rest, but the old Taoist priest wouldn't let him sleep. Plus, there was a lot of work to do in the sheep pen, such as shoveling snow, feeding the sheep, cleaning up sheep droppings, and checking the sheep pen. Shan Yaowen really managed to get through it all.

"That eagle is watching you. If you fall asleep first, you can forget about training the eagle."

The second night, the eagle was clearly more tired. Its reactions were much slower than the day before. It swayed on the pole, and Shan Yaowen tapped it more and more frequently with the stick in his hand. Sometimes, it would close its eyes again less than two minutes after he finished tapping it.

On the third night, the eagle began to shed tears.

On the fourth day, Shan Yaowen himself could hardly distinguish between day and night.

During these four days, Shan Yaowen was able to eat something from time to time, but this silly bird really didn't eat anything at all.

The old Taoist priest said this was called "fatting up." He had raised the eagle too well before, and the eagle was too fat to feel hungry. Without hunger, it would not lower its head.

In the early hours of the fifth day, Shan Yaowen was yawning when he vaguely heard a very soft and faint cry.

He looked up in surprise and saw the silly bird tilting its head, the fierce glint in its eyes gone, replaced by a fawning, or rather, submissive, expression.

Seeing such a silly bird, Shan Yaowen remembered what the old Taoist priest had said, and slowly stretched out his palm, palm facing up;

Then the silly bird slowly lowered its head and gently, tentatively, touched its palm with its beak.

At that moment, Shan Yaowen almost jumped up in excitement.

I finally succeeded!

The old Taoist priest who came in from outside and saw this scene immediately took out some food and placed it in Shan Yaowen's hand: "Feed it."

Shan Yaowen took a shredded piece of meat from the bowl and held it to the eagle's beak. The silly bird hesitated for a moment, then opened its beak and slowly pecked the shredded meat into its mouth.

"It's done." The old Taoist priest breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that the eagle would be too stubborn. If this continued, the eagle would not survive and the man would die.

The practice of "training the eagle" applies not only to the eagle but also to the person.

After the matter was over, the old Taoist priest also gave Shan Yaowen a pair of leather shackles, which were worn on his arms so that the eagle could stand on them.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Bai."

Shan Yaowen stood up unsteadily and escorted the old Taoist priest to the door.

"Give it some more training later, and it would be best to give it a name." The old Taoist priest picked up a large pheasant and left.

Looking at the large bird perched on his younger brother's arm, it would be a lie to say that Shan Yaowu wasn't envious.

However, the work was tough. He would come to the ranch to help his younger brother with chores every day after get off work. He knew how much hardship Shan Yaowen had endured these past few days.

He can't do it if you ask him to.

"Brother, keep an eye on the sheep for me."

After saying that, Shan Yaowen put the silly bird on the scaffold and went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The silly bird was the same; it was so exhausted that it couldn't even stand up straight, and in the end, it simply slept on the edge of the bed.

Shan Yaowen slept like a log. He had successfully trained his eagle on the fifth day and started sleeping at noon. He slept straight through to the afternoon of the sixth day.

"I thought you were still sleeping." Lin Nian looked at Shan Yaowen, who was wolfing down his food. These past two days, she would come to Shan Yaowen's place to play or help with chores whenever she had nothing to do at home.

This was the first time he had ever seen Shan Yaowen so weak.

He looked as if the village elders had said he had been drained of his life force by a demon; he was extremely haggard.

"It's alright, it's worth it." Shan Yaowen slurped up a mouthful of porridge, looking at the silly bird soaring in the sky.

"Gah~"

The only problem is that its call isn't very pleasant to hear. Other eagles have such high-pitched and loud calls, but when it comes to its own, the eagle that has finally managed to grow up sounds like a duck.

"Then what's the use of this silly bird?" Lin Nian glanced at the large bird falling from the sky.

She was actually very curious as to why Shan Yaowen named the big bird "Silly Bird".

"It has many uses. For example, it can hunt. Once domesticated, the eagle can catch rabbits, foxes, pheasants and other wild animals and bring them back. It can also guide me to the prey when hunting in the mountains. In addition, it can warn me when wolves or other wild animals come to the pasture from the air."

"That amazing?" Lin Nian's eyes lit up as she watched the large bird swoop down and land on a nearby branch. "Then why is it called the 'Silly Bird'?"

"Because it's really stupid, and having a lowly name makes it easier to raise." After finishing his meal, Shan Yaowen put the bowl and chopsticks in the basket. "Where's your brother?"

"Oh, I went to take a dump."

"Here they come, mosquitoes! Are they really going up the mountain today?"

Dog Egg walked this way while fastening his belt, "With this big bird, can we really find prey?"

Master Gou Dan went home for a banquet today, so this guy finally had a day off. As soon as he got a break, he came to my place, clamoring to go hunting in the mountains.

As for Lin Nian, it was originally supposed to be Shan Yaowen's mother who delivered the food to him, but Shan Yaowen knew why it was her who did it.

The two are currently in a stage where they have mutual feelings for each other and are trying to get to know each other.

The adults in both families knew about it, but didn't say anything; in fact, they seemed somewhat pleased with the outcome.

As for Gou Dan, he can't even hold his head up at home because of his gambling. Nobody listens to his opinions anymore, and opposing him is useless.

"I want to go too." Seeing this, Lin Nian ignored the bowls and chopsticks in the basket and looked at Shan Yaowen pleadingly.

"this……"

"I can help you get the game, and going up the mountain won't be a problem either," Lin Nian quickly stated her role.

"Okay." Shan Yaowen went back to his room to pack up and brought all the necessary tools.

He hadn't hunted in a long time, and with the recent financial pressure, he had finally managed to train the hawk and wanted to test its abilities.

"Hey, Niannian, walk behind me, between me and your brother. If you can't walk anymore, remember to let me know."

After making the arrangements, Shan Yaowen led the way up the mountain.

The silly bird soared in the sky, while the three of them traversed the underground forest. Originally, Gou Dan had doubts about using birds for hunting, but he was taught a lesson by the silly bird as soon as he went up the mountain.

"There's some movement ahead." Shan Yaowen looked at the silly bird flying in the sky and saw it circling in one place. He immediately understood.

"How did you figure that out?"

Dog Egg said he couldn't understand.

However, after following Shan Yaowen for a while, he noticed several large figures rubbing against trees in the woods ahead. He then realized that the bond between master and servant was something he couldn't understand.

"It's a groundhog!" Lin Nian exclaimed, grabbing Shan Yaowen's arm.