Shell-Neck, Slim, and Grim

Shell-Neck the tortoise lived in a lotus pond with his best friends, two ganders named Slim and Grim. For many seasons they swam, talked and watched clouds drift across the water. Then a long drought came. Day by day the pond became smaller.

Slim and Grim found a large lake beyond the hills. ‘We can fly there,’ said Slim, ‘but we cannot leave you behind.’ Shell-Neck thought carefully. ‘Carry a strong stick between your beaks. I will hold the middle with my mouth.’ Grim liked the plan but warned, ‘You must not speak, whatever anyone says.’

Shell-Neck promised. The ganders lifted him into the sky. Below them lay fields, roofs and a busy village. People looked up in amazement. ‘What a strange flying bundle!’ one child cried. ‘Perhaps the birds are carrying an old pot!’ laughed another.

Shell-Neck wanted to shout, ‘I am no pot!’ He tried to ignore them, but the words tickled inside his mouth. At last he forgot his promise and opened his jaws. Down he dropped—straight into a farmer’s cart piled high with soft hay. The hay burst around him like a golden cloud.

Slim and Grim circled down in alarm. Shell-Neck emerged unhurt, though hay clung to his shell and mud covered his nose. ‘You warned me,’ he admitted. ‘The plan was clever, but it could only work if I controlled my tongue.’

The friends rested until the cart reached the hill road. With the farmer’s kind help, they tried again from a lower ridge. This time Shell-Neck kept his mouth firmly closed, even when monkeys teased him from the trees. At sunset the three reached the new lake together, and Shell-Neck became famous for listening before speaking.

__Moral: __Self-control can carry us safely where clever plans alone cannot.