A king had a lake put into the courtyard of his castle.
This lake was for his daughter, the young princess, to play around in.
One day the king asked his boys to put fish in the lake.
The boys went and found fish, but with the fish was a turtle.
None of them had ever seen a turtle before and ended up thinking it was a demon.
The returned to the king crying a told him that there was a demon in the lake.
He told the boys to bring the demon back to him.
The boys got the turtle planned to kill it.
They kept coming up with plans.
An old man told them that they should throw it into the part of the lake that is flowing over a bunch of rocks.
The turtle begged them not to and said that this was the worst punishment of all.
He knew that the boys wanted the worst for him so he told them not to do the one thing that he actually wanted them to do.
The boys threw him in the water and he traveled safely home.
The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking
A Turtle who lived at the bottom of a hill met two Geese one day.
After a short amount of time they became good friends.
The Geese wanted the Turtle to come home with them
The Turtle asked how he could go with them because he has no wings.
The Geese offered to take them as long as he didn't tell anybody about it.
The Geese grabbed a stick and held it between them.
They told the Turtle to bite the stick and hold on.
The Geese and Turtle flew over a village and the children made fun of them.
The Turtle, defending himself said, "Well, and if my friends carry me, what business is that of yours?"
He fell to his death at the feet of the children.
Bibliography
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Image Information: The Falling Turtle: Wikimedia Commons
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