Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories by Mark W. McGinnis

Author:Mark W. McGinnis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala

THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE

Long ago on a beautiful lake in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains there lived two young geese. They enjoyed the lovely lake, its surface dappled with water lily and lotus blossoms. Flowering trees filled with every kind of songbird grew along the lake’s shore, and it was lined with gorgeous stone outcroppings. It was on one of these stones that the two geese first met the tortoise who was to become their close friend. He was a most peculiar tortoise in that he was extremely talkative. He was rarely silent, enjoying nothing more than conversing for hours with the geese. The geese seemed to overlook this character flaw in the tortoise, focusing on his kindness, generosity, and gentle nature.

The geese and the tortoise were inseparable all through the summer and fall. Then came the winter, the season for the geese to migrate to their winter feeding grounds. As the time drew near for them to go, all three friends were all quite sad, knowing the tortoise would have to be left behind.

“I would walk,” said the tortoise, “but I’m sure by the time I got there it would be time for you to return here. And then I would . . .”

“Yes, yes,” broke in the geese. “That would certainly not work.”

They thought and thought about the situation and finally the geese had what they considered a workable idea.

“Good Tortoise,” they said to their friend, “is it true that tortoises have such a strong bite that once they latch onto something nothing can make them let loose until they are ready?”

“It most certainly is,” replied the tortoise. “We have jaws like iron traps. Why we are . . .”

“Well then,” interrupted the geese, “this is our idea. We will find a strong stick and we will each hold one end in our bills. Then you can take hold of the stick in the center, grasping it firmly with your strong bite, and we will fly you to our winter feeding grounds. If it works, we will not have to be separated and we can spend the entire year together. There is just one thing you must remember. You cannot speak for the entire flight. If you speak you will lose your grip and fall.”

“What a marvelous idea!” exclaimed the tortoise. “It is going to be wonderful to fly high above the ground and see all that goes on below. I am so excited . . .”

Later that day the geese had made all the necessary preparations, including securing a strong stick, and they were ready to go. They had the tortoise bite the stick firmly and off they went. The plan worked exactly as they had hoped. The two strong young geese had no problem lifting the tortoise—although they did have to fly somewhat lower than they were accustomed—and in no time they were on their way to the winter feeding grounds. As they were flying quite low over a village, the children all gathered to exclaim at the very unusual sight of the geese carrying the tortoise.

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