In her turn she inquired, “Have you good news to tell me? Have you discovered a place where monkeys are plentiful? Have you had a good meal?”
“Only bad news have I to tell,” he replied. “I have seen no troops of monkeys. Bad luck continues to follow us. I am starving, too. For three days we have soared over this great forest and have seen and caught nothing.” And with a sigh, “How hard we have to work for our living!” said both at the same time. “Oh, how fortunate it is that we guanioniens are so constituted that we can starve for days without dying! This great gift has been given to us to suit our mode of life. Hunger is our enemy; but old age is our greatest one.”
They left their tree and agreed to come back in the evening to sleep upon it, as had been their custom for some little time. They flew a long way off, in a bee-line at first, keeping in sight of each other for a while, then parted.
Toward sunset they were once more perched on the tree, and each inquired for the afternoon’s news.
The big guanionien said: “Several times I saw branches moving, with monkeys upon them. At this sight my appetite grew more voracious than before, and I thought that I was going to have a good meal. I soared over the trees, but the monkeys never came to the tops so that I could swoop down upon them. They seemed to dread danger, although I was so high in the air that they could not see me. But experience has taught them that it is not safe for them to be on the tops of the trees; ugly, suspicious monkeys, we have to be very cunning to capture them.”
After he had finished, he asked his mate what she had to tell. She replied: “During my flight I came to a place where I saw the tops of several trees covered with big red fruit. Surely, I thought, monkeys will be tempted when they see this, and will come out to eat. I soared over them until it was time to leave to meet you, for sunset was fast coming on. At the dawn of the day we must fly to that place, for I believe that some wandering troops of monkeys will surely come there to feed.”
“If I capture a monkey, he will never drop from my claws,” said her mate.
“Neither will one from mine,” she replied. “Oh, dear, how hard it is to work for nothing!”
The sun had set, and darkness came over the land, and the two guanioniens fell asleep. They felt safe, for the tree was large, and its first branch was so high above the forest that nothing but winged creatures could get to them.
At daybreak the two guanioniens left, travelling in the direction of the fruit trees as fast as they could. They remained in sight of each other, but did not talk or hail each other, as was their wont, for fear the monkeys might hear them and become more wary than ever.