My favorite folklore as a child was the story of the greedy tortoise. I remember one evening, my mother gathered me and my siblings together. We sat in a circle on a mat, with a small lantern glowing softly at the center, She cleared her throat, smiled at us, and began her tale.
She told us that once upon a time, there was a terrible famine in the animal kingdom. Every creature, both great and small, was hungry. To survive, the animals agreed to work together. Each day, they all went out in search of food in the forest. Whenever they found something to eat, they brought it back to the village square and presented it before the king of the animals. After the offering, the food was shared equally so that no one would go hungry. They lived this way, helping one another and eating as one big family.
But tortoise, as we know, was a cunning and greedy creature. One day, while searching for food in the forest, he stumbled upon a tuber of yam. His eyes gleamed with excitement. Instead of taking it to the village square like the others, he secretly dug a hole near his house and buried the yam. Then, pretending as though he had found nothing, he joined the other animals in the market square to enjoy the food they had brought.
The next morning, while all the animals went back into the forest in search of more food, tortoise hurried to the spot where he had hidden the yam. He dug it up and carried it straight into his house. There, he peeled it quickly, cut it into pieces, and cooked a thick pot of yam porridge. The delicious aroma filled his hut, and tortoise could not wait to taste it.
Just as he was about to eat, there was a sudden knock on his door. He knew that if the other animals saw what he had cooked, they would discover his greed and expose him to the king. In his panic, tortoise thought of a trick. He quickly poured the hot yam porridge into his wide hat and wore it on his head to hide it.
When tortoise opened the door, he found his friends the rabbit and fox, standing there. They said "we didn't see you at forest in search of food and a sweet aroma is coming from your house so we decided to stop by."
Tortoise, forcing a smile, replied, “Ah, i was not feeling well and i'm too weak to go out." They told him they will inform the king about his health so they can collect his portion of the food shared at the market square, while they were still talking, the heat of the porridge inside his hat became unbearable. The porridge burned his scalp and he screamed, “Ah! Ah! Ahhh!”, he quickly snatched off the hat and threw it to the ground. The yam porridge spilled everywhere, wasted and scattered across the floor.
Other animals, heard his cry and rushed to his house. They were shocked to see tortoise’s head blistered and his porridge on the floor. The king was angry at his greed so he banished him from the kingdom that day.
From that day, the animals never trusted tortoise again. And it is said that the scars from the burns remained on his head forever, that is why tortoise are bald.
My mother ended the story by saying, “ Whatever you have, no matter how small, is better shared with others.”
I learnt to share with others even if its little and i have seen the benefits of sharing. The saying givers never lack is true.
Image is Ai generated
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Thanks for visiting my blog 🤗. I'm a writer with a passion for storytelling, beautiful photography, and chasing everyday adventures. I love capturing life in all of its colors either through words or visuals. I hope you discover something here that inspires or connects with you. You can leave a comment to express your thoughts or if you want us to engage.