The Story Of The Tortoise And Its Broken Shell

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Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom of Maldives, there lived a wise, cunning and lazy tortoise called Jakun. During that time, all the animals in the animal kingdom were United and the tortoise was friends with the birds. The birds were always fond of Jakun's smooth, hard and beautiful shell and they always gave him a visit regularly each time they descended to the ground so they could lay on his smooth and beautiful shell.

One day, when the birds were with the tortoise, they began to discuss their upcoming feast in heaven and how interesting it would be. When Jakun the tortoise overheard them talking about this feast, he became interested and decided to inquire about the event. When he was told that the event is going to be a very sumptuous one, Jakun became jealous and wished he could also join the birds to the feast so he could also enjoy what they were about to enjoy. But he had no wings to fly to heaven. So the tortoise kept thinking about this feast always and one day, an idea popped up in his head, he could ask his bird friends to lend him one feather each so he could join them to the feast. He promised that when they returned from the feast, he was going to allow all those who lent him their feathers to lay on his beautiful shell for free as long as they liked without disturbance. Seeing that the offer was good, the birds agreed to lend him their feathers. They each gave him one feather from their wing until it was enough to create a wing for himself. Tortoise was really happy, he could now join his bird friends and go to a feast in heaven.

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On the day of the feast, the tortoise called all his bird friends together and asked them to pick a new name for themselves that they were going to be called at the feast. He explained that it was a tradition that any feast goer is obligated to choose a new name he or she is going to bear at the event so in case anything went wrong, the organizers wouldn't know their real identity. The birds all thought that what tortoise suggested was wise and they decided to pick a new name for themselves, each of them. Tortoise also picked a new name, and his new name was "All of you". The birds were surprised at the tortoise 's choice of name, they all thought he was trying to be funny. The day for the feast arrived and they all flew to heaven for the feast including the tortoise.

In heaven, the tortoise and his bird friend all sat on a big round table. The event began and all the participants were asked to vote for a representative from each of the tables where they sat who would represent their respective tables in the games they were about to play. The birds sitting with the tortoise decided to vote for him to represent them thinking that since he was wise and outspoken more than everyone of them, he would be in the best position to represent them and win prizes for them.

The games began and all the representatives who were selected went up to the stage to play the games. Tortoise being a wise man with a lot of cunning was able to manipulate his way to win most of the games that were played. His bird friends who chose him were very happy and glad they had chosen him.

Now, the time for everyone to dine and feast came, this was the time the tortoise was always anticipating. The food and drink were shared to all the tables and when the servers served the table tortoise and his friends were seated, the tortoise asked her who the foods and drinks were for, and she replied that it was for all of you. Knowing that the tortoise was the person who bore the name "All of you", the birds asked that the food be given to the tortoise while they sat patiently and waited for their own turn which unfortunately never came. Before they could return to their senses of what had just happened, the tortoise had already eaten all the food and drank all the drinks that were meant to be shared among all of them. Now he was extra full with a very big belle that added to his previous weight, and this made it difficult for him to fly with the feathers he had previously borrowed. He had to borrow new feathers to be able to fly home.

Now the event had come to an end and the birds were very annoyed. They were all regretting ever bringing a tortoise to the events. As they were preparing to fly back to their respective homes, the tortoise approached them to beg that they lend him their feathers again. Being so annoyed some of the birds collected the feathers they had previously given to him and flew home. Now the tortoise was left with no wings to fly back to the house. Seeing that he had no option, he asked the birds to tell his wife to bring out his soft bed so he could jump from heaven and land on the bed. But the birds didn't do as he asked, instead they told his wife to bring out all the hard materials in the house. When the tortoise stood from heaven and saw his wife bringing out things from their house, he thought it was the soft beds. When his wife was done, he jumped from heaven and came crashing down on the steel pots and wooden chairs and every other hard material his wife brought outside, and instantly, his shell shattered.

Out of pity for his situation, Mamie the Ducks who was a nurse in his village and Jakun friend rushed to his rescue, she gathered up his shells and gumed them together.