A king got a lake made for his children to play in with some fish in it. The excited children rushed off to see the fish. Now, among the fish was a turtle as well. The children not having seen a turtle before thought it to be a monster. They told the king that there was a monster in the lake. The king ordered his men to kill the monster. There were different suggestions on how to kill it. Some said, “Crush it.” Some said, “Burn it.” Finally, an old man, who had always been afraid of water said, “Throw it into the water where it will flow over the rocks and get killed.” The turtle said, “Please do not put me in the water. I will surely die!” Hearing his pleas, the king’s soldiers immediately threw the turtle in the water. The clever turtle laughed saying, “Those people do not know how safe I am in the water!”
The Clever Turtle
