How the Turtle Saved Herself

How the Turtle Saved Herself

Long ago, a king ordered a large pond built near his palace for his children. On hot days, the young princes swam there, sailed little boats, and built rafts from reeds.

To make the pond more interesting, the king ordered fish to be brought there.

The next morning, the boys ran out to see the new inhabitants. Silver sides of fish flashed in the water, and a large turtle sat near the shore.

The princes had never seen a turtle before.

“Oh! What is that strange creature?” cried one.

“She has a stone house on her back!” said the other.

The turtle stretched out her head to get a better look at the children.

The children grew even more frightened and ran to their father.

“Father, some frightening monster is sitting in the pond!”

The king loved his sons and did not want them to be afraid. He ordered the servants to bring the strange animal to the palace.

The turtle was carefully set down in the middle of the courtyard.

She pulled her head and legs into her shell and stayed very still.

“We must take her far away from here,” said the king, “so that the children are not frightened again.”

The servants began to argue about where they should take the turtle.

“Let us carry her far into the forest.”

“No, she is slow and may not find water.”

“Then leave her beyond the hill.”

“What if she returns?”

Among the servants was an old man who was himself very afraid of deep water. He thought for a moment and said, “I know the worst place for such a creature! Throw her into the great pond, right where the water flows out into the river. The current is fast there. She will certainly never come back!”

The turtle heard this.

At once, she understood that here was her chance.

She slowly poked her head out of her shell and began to tremble as convincingly as she could.

“Oh no!” she groaned. “Anything but water! Take me anywhere, but not to the pond! It is the most terrible thing you could imagine for a poor turtle!”

The old servant nodded with satisfaction.

“See? I told you! She is afraid of water herself.”

The king believed him too.

“Very well. Carry her to the pond and let her go into the water. Let the current take her far from the palace.”

Two servants lifted the turtle and carried her back.

All the way, the turtle sighed.

“Oh, oh, oh… water… such dreadful water…”

But as soon as they set her down by the shore, she splashed into the pond and vanished beneath the surface.

A few seconds later, her head appeared far from the shore.

“Thank you!” the turtle called merrily.

The servants stood with their mouths open.

The turtle dived again and swam to the place where the stream flowed from the pond into the river. The water carried her along, and soon she was far away from the palace.

“How lucky that people do not know everything about turtles,” she laughed to herself. “And how lucky that I did not forget to think when danger came!”

By evening, the turtle reached a quiet inlet where water lilies grew and other turtles warmed themselves in the sun.

“Where have you been for so long?” they asked.

“At the palace,” replied the traveler. “They nearly carried me to the forest. But I convinced everyone that water was what I feared most.”

All the turtles laughed together.

From that time on, the heroine of this story often told the younger ones, “When you are frightened, do not rush to panic. Think first. Sometimes the way out of trouble lies right under your nose—or, as in my case, right in the water.”

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨