[605] T̤ūlakī, “moulted”: t̤ūlak, subs., “moult.”
CHAPTER XXXVIII
TRAINING THE PASSAGE SAKER TO COMMON CRANE
You must know that it is the pride and glory of a falconer that his bālābān should take common crane with dash and resolution, i.e., that she should stoop quickly and bind soon, not letting the crane get away any distance; then your mounted friends can watch the sport closely, and applaud the exploits of both falcon and falconer.
There are, in hawking, only two forms of the sport that can be shared by a crowd; firstly, crane-hawking with the bālābān, and secondly, heron-hawking with the bālābān: hundreds of sportsmen can together witness and enjoy these two flights. In all other flights, whether with long-winged or short-winged hawks,[609] the smaller the party the better.
Though training a bālābān to common heron is more tedious and troublesome than training it to any other quarry,[610] still the trouble is repaid.
Now if you want to indulge in the sport properly, you must have with you five or six active mounted men, two or three trained and keen bālābāns, two or three keen shāhīns and two chark͟hs trained to eagle; for hawk makes hawk: if you want a “make-hawk” it is there, and if you want a live train it is there, or if you want a dead crane it is there. If you have not all this equipment yourself, you must join forces with some sporting friend or friends, otherwise it will not be possible for you to train your hawk to eagles.
Before entering your passage saker to common crane, you must train her and fly her at common heron as already described. On most days, too, when other hawks take crane, you must give her one, in her feet,[611] to make her keen and plucky.
From the beginning of Autumn to the beginning of Spring, the immature passage saker[612] is what the Arabs call “ignorant,”[613] i.e., it is “mad”: it will take a train[614] of anything that is given it, except an eagle;—for in its wild state it has experienced the tyranny of the eagle and has learnt its might.
Well, from the beginning of Autumn till ten days before the Naw-rūz Festival, you must fly your “ignoramus” at common heron. You must then get a live uninjured crane with unshortened wings,[615] and tying meat on its back make it run and flap its wings, and then fly your hawk at it. If she seizes the crane by the head, it is a sign that she has a big heart and is well-plucked, but if she binds to the meat she is only middling. In either case, fly her thus, once in the morning, and once in the evening.
The next day show her the crane and let it fly a little,[616] and then fly your hawk at it: do this twice as on the previous day.