The Talkative Turtle

In a pond at the edge of a village lived a turtle named Kamal, whose closest friends were two wild geese who visited the pond each evening to drink and rest. The three of them would talk for hours, and over the years their friendship grew deep.

One year, the rains failed, and the pond began to shrink day by day. The geese watched with growing worry as the water dropped lower and the mud around the edges cracked in the sun. "Dear friend," they told Kamal one evening, "this pond will not survive the season. We must fly to a larger lake we know, far from here, where the water never runs dry. Will you come with us?"

"I would love nothing more," said the turtle sadly, "but I have no wings. How could I possibly travel that far?"

The geese thought for a moment, and then had an idea. "We will hold a strong stick between us, one end in each of our beaks. You will grip the middle of the stick firmly with your mouth, and we will fly you all the way there. But you must promise us one thing — no matter what you see or hear along the way, you must not open your mouth to speak. If you do, you will fall."

Kamal agreed eagerly, and the next morning, the three set off. The geese held the stick steady and rose higher and higher into the sky, carrying the turtle safely between them, over forests and fields and winding rivers.

Before long, they passed low over a village, and the people below looked up in astonishment at the strange sight — two geese flying with a turtle dangling from a stick between them. They began to point and laugh, calling out, "Look! Look at the turtle flying through the air! How ridiculous!"

The words stung Kamal's pride more than he could bear. Forgetting everything he had promised, he opened his mouth to shout back at them — "Why does it matter to y—"

And in that instant, he lost his grip on the stick and plummeted to the ground far below.