One day the Virgin Mary arranged a feast in heaven and invited all the animals. But how to deliver the guests to the feast? Pisces could climb the rainbow. Butterflies, beetles and other insects could fly up with the wind. It turned out to be easier for the birds than anyone else: flap your wings until you reach the clouds, and then calmly enter the blue heavenly gates.
But with quadrupeds and amphibians it was much more difficult. We thought and wondered for a long time, judged and decided what to do, and finally came up with the idea: the birds, gathered in flocks, will raise wild boars, deer, jaguars, guinea pigs, otters, anteaters and everyone else to the kingdom of heaven.
And the herons ran to spread the news about the holiday and gather the invitees. Every now and then there was a commotion in the forest, screams, sighs, groans, laughter were heard, and suddenly some armadillo soared into the sky, all tied up with vines, which entire flocks of birds held in their beaks. The birds tried their best to properly complete the task assigned to them.
Fat capivars and various crustaceans could not climb the rainbow and rushed from side to side, overwhelming everyone with requests for help. Then the long-legged cranes began to spread ponchos in the lowlands, collect clumsiness there and, taking the ends of the ponchos in their beaks, carried them to the sky. So everything went on until the turtle appeared and made a noise:
- Who will take me to heaven? Who will take me to heaven?
Nobody wanted to lift the turtle: it was too big, heavy and awkward. And it so happened that a vulture flew there (and he was very malicious, I must tell you), heard these conversations, folded his mourning wings and said:
- Let me deliver this giant to the sky! All sorts of river inhabitants gathered here to watch the vulture take the turtle. The vulture says:
- Get on my back, godfather!
How can a turtle fit in somewhere? And all the animals began to help her climb onto the vulture. When they succeeded, everyone froze: what will happen next? The vulture flapped its wings, like frayed umbrellas, and flew away.
He flew and flew, but the turtle is an unimportant rider: sometimes it will slide in one direction, then the other, sometimes it will ride on the vulture’s neck, sometimes on its tail. The vulture says to her:
- Sit still, godfather, hold on tight to the pommel of the saddle. And if you twitch, then...
Half an hour later, the vulture, sweating profusely, realized that it would not be able to deliver its bulky burden to the sky. Then he sharply flapped his wing, and the turtle flew down! She pierced the clouds, fell onto the plain, and her shell broke into pieces.
The vulture saw this from above and just shrugged:
“Well, such an absurd creature was born that it couldn’t even rise to heaven!”
And he shook with laughter.
But the Virgin Mary did not like his action, and as punishment she forbade him to rest on living, green trees, and prescribed him only carrion for food.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru