Once upon a time, there lived two
swans and a tortoise named Kambugriva in a forest. They lived together in the
lake and were good friends. The three of them played with each other everyday.
One afternoon, few fishermen
passed by the lake and said, “The lake has fish and tortoise. We will come and
caught them tomorrow.
When the tortoise heard this, she
became sad and started weeping. The swans saw the tortoise crying and came to
ask her the matter.
The tortoise said, “I heard the
fishermen say that they will come here tomorrow for fishing. I am afraid that I
might be caught and killed.”
The swans replied, “Do not worry
friend. We will think together and find out some way.”
The tortoise said, “If I leave
this pond and go to another; I will be safe. There is another pond in the
forest. But it will take days for me to reach there. Can you help me in
reaching there before tomorrow morning ?”
The swans agreed but said, “We
need to find a way to so do.”
The tortoise was intelligent and
witty. She saw a thick wooden stick near bank of the pond and suggested, “You
see that wooden stick? I will hold it in middle and you two on either side.
This way we can fly to other pond quickly.”
The swans were pleased the
tortoise's idea. But one of them suddenly said,” Dear friends, your idea is too
good. But it can be dangerous for you to fly this way. If you open your mouth,
you will fall down.”
The tortoise said, “I am not so
ignorant and foolish. I will keep my mouth close all the way.”
After sometime, the three of
them flew up with the stick.
A group of cowherds roaming the
forest saw them. They were surprised and enjoyed the scene. One of the cowboy
said, “If the tortoise fells I will make a forest fire here and roast it.”
Another cowboy said, “Let it fall, we can kill and feast on it.”
Hearing the unkind words, the
tortoise was angry. She shouted, “You evil, you eat ashes...” and before she
could complete she came hurling down.
The tortoise fell on the ground.
She wanted to creep away and hide for safety but was hurt. The cowboys came
running to caught hold of her. They killed and ate her.
The swans sorrowfully watched
their friends being killed and thought that if the tortoise would have
remembered their advice she would have been alive.
Moral: Anger is our worst enemy.
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