and when he had walked there , rapid as an eagle and tenacious as a donkey , he had inspected the quiet place , and eventually leapt up into the air , spinning higher and higher as he went , till he had seized the door with his two hands , and it did not sway an inch or even squeal , and then , with his head looking down onto the floor , his stomach crooked , and his legs twisted too so that they had hovered in the air , he had cast himself further up , his hand having been freed from the door , and he revolved and twirled , straightening himself as he advanced so that when at long last dropping , he launched one persevering foot on top of the door , his immobile body inclined forward as though he was about to fall , his hands spread out and unmoving as though they were wings of a floating eagle .