Many, many years ago, the Garida Khan, who ruled over the world of feathered creatures and birds, summoned a wasp and a swallow before him in order to discover which creature possessed the tastiest and most delicious meat in the world. When they arrived, the Garida Khan immediately dispatched them on a mission around the world and told them that whoever discovered the answer first should report back to him immediately and inform him which creature had the sweetest meat. The swallow and the wasp flew away at the command of Garida Khan. On that day the weather was very fine, the sun shone brightly, and it was very warm and hot, so the swallow forgot the king's order and spent his day swooping in the blue sky, singing beautifully, bathing in the sun, and enjoying himself at ease.
However, the evil and vicious wasp spent the whole day stinging all the animals that crossed his path, and he also tasted all their hot blood as he stung them. When the sun began to set, the two creatures returned to the agreed meeting place and together they began their journey back to the Garida Khan. The swallow asked the wasp if he had managed to find out which animals' meat was the sweetest. The wasp answered that the creature with the sweetest meat was the human being. Men had the tastiest meat, and therefore their king, the Garida Khan, must always be fed human meat.
The swallow was most distressed when he heard the wasp's words, and he grieved for the fate of mankind and wondered what he could do to save all the kind human beings that he knew.
Then he asked himself, "How shall I save those poor human beings from disaster?" And he asked the wasp, "How could you taste the hot blood of living man?" The wasp answered, "Oh, that is very easy. I pierced him with my sting and tasted with my tongues," said the wasp.
Then the swallow asked, "Where is your great tongue?" And when the wasp opened its mouth and showed its tongue, saying, "This is my tongue.. .," the swallow pecked it out. It is from that time that the wasp has not been able to sing beautifully and only makes a buzzing, droning sound.
When they arrived at the King of the Feathered Creatures and Birds court, the wasp began to complain loudly and flew around the king, buzzing with all his might, but because he had lost his tongue, nobody could make out what he was saying and what his problem was.
The king demanded to know what the wasp was saying and what kind of noise he was making and angrily complained that he could understand nothing of what the wasp was saying. In the end, he asked the swallow to explain the outcome of their quest and to tell him what creature on the Earth had the tastiest and most delicious meat. The swallow replied that it was the snake that had the sweetest and tastiest meat in the world.
The King of the Feathered World believed the swallow's words, and from that day forth he began to catch and eat snakes. Today only the hawk remains of the descendants of the Garida Khan, and this bird loves to hunt and eat snakes, just like the king.
World History
