In ancient times, a turtle lived in a pond with lotuses. And then a severe drought broke out. The pond has dried up, leaving only a few dirty puddles. One day two white crested herons flew to the pond, wandered through the puddles, pecked two or three shrimps, and suddenly they saw a turtle crawling towards them. She was afraid that the white herons would eat all her food, and she crawled out of her hole.
-Who is in charge here? - the turtle screamed. - Get out as quickly as possible! Otherwise I'll pluck you!
The white herons, of course, are not happy about such a meeting, but they did not want to quarrel with the turtle. They assumed a welcoming look and spoke:
- Oh, is that you, sister turtle? Is this your domain? We didn't come here to peck your food. We want to make friends with you and help you in these difficult times.
To this the turtle answered the white herons quite impolitely:
- He'll talk you into a mouthful! I don't need your friendship. From an early age I have lived alone in this lotus pond, and I don’t need anyone.
“Yes, but we, sister turtle, flew in to tell you the bad news: soon this pond will dry up completely, and you will have nothing to feed on,” said the white herons.
The turtle heard this and became even more angry:
- If there is no food - no need! What do you care? Why are you poking your nose into other people's business?
- Sister turtle, don’t be angry, don’t get excited. We flew here from afar, we saw many different countries, we saw many ponds with tasty food. We are not going to stay on this pond. We came to meet you and think about how you should live next. The drought may drag on, and you won’t have enough food here. Soon there will be nothing edible left in this pond.
The turtle listened and was no longer angry.
- Tell me, what should I do, what should I do? – she became worried.
“It’s very simple,” answered the white herons. - You, sister turtle, need to move to the neighboring pond, there is plenty of water in it, trees grow all around, the grass is green, there is plenty of food. What else do you need?
- Yes, but I can’t fly. How can I get to him? – the turtle was confused.
“Well, this is absolutely nothing,” the herons began to speak. “You open your mouth and grab the stick tightly.” We will grab it from both sides with our beaks and fly. So, sister turtle, we can take you not only to the nearest pond - we can take you to the very edge of the world. But just don’t forget: you can’t talk on the road. Don’t open your mouth even if you see something amazing, or someone calls out to you, or starts making fun of you. Don't answer anyone. If you open your mouth, you will fall down and die.
The turtle decided to go on a journey. She clung to the stick, the herons grabbed the stick from both ends, flapped their wings and soared into the sky.
The herons are flying, flying. They flew over a roadside tavern, where people had gathered to drink water or coconut milk - in a word, to quench their thirst. People saw a turtle and two herons and were amazed. They shouted loudly:
- Look, look! Herons are carrying clods of dirt somewhere! The turtle became so angry with passion that she wanted to curse everyone. But she remembered what the herons warned her about, and remained silent, did not open her mouth.
We flew on. The turtle looked down, there was a market, people were crowding. Suddenly someone shouts loudly and loudly:
- Look! Look! The herons are carrying a dead dog!
This time the turtle was so angry that he couldn’t stand it – he was about to scold the ignoramus properly! But as soon as she opened her mouth, she fell to the ground and broke.
A passerby was on his way to the market, picked it up and cooked delicious turtle soup.
And the herons, when the turtle fell, said:
- What a poor thing! And all this happened because the turtle sister did not listen to us, did not remain silent. What grumpiness can lead to!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru