Once upon a time, there was a tortoise who lived in a tank. He made friends with two geese who used to come and visit him at the tank. They were happy for many years.
Then there was a drought that lasted
for months. The tanks and rivers started drying up under the burning sun.
The people and animals were starving and the birds were migrating to more
fertile lands. The two geese decided to save themselves and go away. So
they came to say a sad goodbye to their friend the tortoise.
The poor tortoise could not believe
that they could leave him behind to die. The geese wondered how they could
save their friend too. The problem was that they did not know how to take
him along because the tortoise could not fly. The tortoise came up with
an idea. He told the geese to get him a stick that he could hold between
his teeth. The geese could then take him to a more fertile land flying
slowly while holding the two ends of the stick.
But the geese were worried that if
the tortoise opened his mouth by mistake to speak, he would lose his grip
on the stick and would fall down and die. So the tortoise promised not
to open his mouth.
The geese flew off carrying the tortoise
with them. They flew higher and higher, over hills, valleys, fields and
plains. Finally, they flew over a city. The people of the city were amazed
to see such a strange sight. They clapped their hands and commented how
wonderful it was too see the geese carrying the tortoise like that. The
people's shouting and clapping annoyed the tortoise. He wondered aloud
why these foolish people were making such a racket. But as soon as he opened
his mouth to speak, he lost his grip on the stick and fell to the ground.
And so the poor tortoise was killed all because of his foolishness and
intolerance.
