How The Tortoise Got The Cracks On His Shell- In an animal kingdom far away, there was famine. All the food sources in the kingdom had been exhausted. The hunger made all the animals in the kingdom lean and weak. However, only the birds weren’t as lean and weak as other animals.
The tortoise observed this and so he took it upon himself to find out how the birds looked healthy and other animals looked thin. So, he wanted to find out where the birds got their food from. The tortoise then asked the birds, however they refused to tell him.
Believing the tortoise to be a crafty creature, the birds declined to inform the tortoise. The tortoise begged and begged but the birds wouldn’t listen. He also promised them that he wouldn’t play any tricks on them and so the birds agreed to tell him.
The tortoise was told by the birds about a feast in the heavens that any animal capable of getting there was invited to attend. After hearing this, the tortoise thought for a while and he wondered how he could get up in the heavens to join the feast.
The tortoise couldn’t get up in the sky because he had no wings to fly. So, he came up with an idea. The tortoise wanted to borrow a feather from each bird and he would attach it to his body and this feathers would act as a wing for him to fly to the heavens.
All the birds agreed to the tortoise plan and so they gave him a feather to attach it to his body to act as a wing. The birds also told the tortoise to take a ceremonial name. This is the name that they will use to address him when he gets to heaven.
They all left for the feast after much thought by the tortoise, who requested to be addressed as “Every one of you.” When they arrived in heaven, they were all welcomed by the host. They were also led to the table by the host and here the banquet was ready. Before the host left he said that the food was for every one of you.
The tortoise then came out and he said that his name was “Every one of you” was his name and so all the food belonged to him and him alone. After that, the tortoise proceeded to eat the entire meal. After finishing his meal, the tortoise’s shell shone brightly.
This made the birds very angry with the tortoise and so they all came up with a plan. The birds all agreed to take back their feather from the tortoise. That way he would have no wings to fly to heaven and fly back down.
Upon learning of the birds’ plans, the tortoise begged them to assist him in sending his wife a secure message. He told them that they should tell his wife to bring the softest sheets, pillows, and beds. Then she should place it under the heavens so that when he jumped from the sky, he could be able to land safely.
The birds agreed to help the tortoise deliver his message. However, when they got to the tortoise’s house, they changed the message. The birds told the wife of the tortoise that she should bring out the hardest and strongest materials in the house. They also told her that she should place them in the open ground.
His wife bringing out his materials reassured the tortoise that he would land safely. He also thought that he would land on soft sheets. The tortoise jumped from heaven when his wife was finished. However, he crashed into the hard and strong materials.
The best healer in the land helped mend the tortoise’s shattered and smooth shell back into one piece. This was how the tortoise had a broken shell and it was because of his greed. This concludes the story of How The Tortoise Got The Cracks On His Shell.