How the Tortoise Got Its Cracked Shell

Office of Global Strategies Author

09/01/2021 Added

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By Ukachi Chukwu, Nigeria. In this popular Nigerian legend, when Tortoise used to have a smooth shell a long time ago, he came up with a plan to get more food with the help of the Birds. But he learns his lesson to not be greedy when his plan is discovered.

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[00:00:07.880]Hello, my name is Ukachi Myne Chukwu. I am from Nigeria. Today,
[00:00:12.440]I will read a story for you titled Why the Tortoise Has a Cracked Shell
[00:00:17.360]written by Chioma Onyewuchi. A long time ago,
[00:00:22.010]when the animal school still taught, there was a famine in the land.
[00:00:26.750]The famine was so bad that there was absolutely no food to eat in the animal
[00:00:30.980]kingdom. Many of the animals were suffering and started to die
[00:00:35.600]One by one. The tortoise would not go down without a fight.
[00:00:40.220]It was the most cunning of all the animals and was determined to find some food
[00:00:44.870]for himself and for his family. One day,
[00:00:49.040]the Tortoise observed that the birds in the kingdom were not starving
[00:00:52.280]Like everybody else. They looked fresh and their feathers were not drying
[00:00:57.080]up. He made it his business to Find out what their secret was,
[00:01:02.030]being as cunning and clever as ever, he went to the birds
[00:01:06.110]To ask them what their secret was.
[00:01:08.660]Of course they would not tell him. After showing them that he could help
[00:01:13.610]them to get more food, if they told him their secret. The birds
[00:01:18.500]Agreed,
[00:01:19.970]they explained to him that the people of the sky were responsible for the meat
[00:01:24.080]on their bones. The Tortoise promised to help them get even more food.
[00:01:29.360]And with his cunning mind, he developed a plan.
[00:01:32.780]He told the birds that if they helped him get to the sky,
[00:01:36.140]He would be their spokesperson. All the birds,
[00:01:39.710]And indeed, all the animals of the kingdom, knew that Tortoise was an amazing
[00:01:44.510]speaker.
[00:01:45.680]So they agreed. After discussion, they hatched a
[00:01:50.500]plan. Each bird would contribute a few feathers to Tortoise until
[00:01:55.430]he had enough feathers to make wings that would allow him to fly
[00:02:00.380]On the day that the birds and Tortoise agreed to go to the sky,
[00:02:04.070]Tortoise put on his feathers and was finally able to fly.
[00:02:08.300]When they all go to the sky,
[00:02:09.710]they were given a grand welcome as their spokesperson tortoise
[00:02:14.420]introduced himself and spoke on behalf of the birds.
[00:02:18.830]Since he had the most unique and colorful feathers,
[00:02:22.040]the sky people immediately thought That Tortoise was their chief.
[00:02:26.630]When they served the food to the guests, they served tortoise first.
[00:02:29.810]As a result, the birds were not happy with that. However,
[00:02:35.330]Tortoise had another trick up his sleeve.
[00:02:38.210]He told the birds that at grand occasions, such as these,
[00:02:41.900]each animal would take up another name. After the birds had
[00:02:46.540]chose a name, Tortoise chose the name, 'All of you'.
[00:02:51.770]When the host brought more food for their guests,
[00:02:54.830]Tortoise made a point of asking who the food was for. Well,
[00:02:59.140]the food is for all of you, the host said,
[00:03:02.650]With a smirk, Tortoise turned to the birds and said that,
[00:03:06.430]since the food was for all of you and his chosen name was 'All of you,'
[00:03:11.080]The food was for him alone.
[00:03:13.930]The poor birds watched angrily as the Tortoise ate up
[00:03:18.190]everything. When it was time to go,
[00:03:22.120]the birds were so angry that they each took their feathers from Tortoise.
[00:03:27.490]He was now unable to fly back home.
[00:03:30.670]Sensing danger, Tortoise begged
[00:03:33.220]The birds send a message to his wife to bring out all the soft things from his
[00:03:37.990]house so that when he jumped from the sky, he would be okay,
[00:03:43.300]all but one of the birds refused. The Eagle,
[00:03:47.620]the angriest of all the birds,
[00:03:49.690]agreed to give the message to Tortoise's wife.
[00:03:53.110]The Eagle flew back to Tortoise's house and told his wife that Tortoise requested
[00:03:57.730]that she bring out all the hard things from the house.
[00:04:00.880]Of course she began to do just that. She brought out the mortar, the plates,
[00:04:05.860]the wooden tables, all the hard things you can think of.
[00:04:10.060]With his limited vision, Tortoise couldn't see what was being brought out.
[00:04:14.230]So he assumed that the Eagle had given the right message to his wife.
[00:04:18.580]When Tortoise jumped from the sky, he'd got the surprise of his life.
[00:04:23.080]He landed on the hardest and sharpest objects and his shell broke into
[00:04:27.910]many pieces. With the
[00:04:29.680]Help of his wife he was able to pick them up and put them back together.
[00:04:34.930]Unfortunately, his previously smooth shell was never smooth again.
[00:04:40.060]The process of putting the pieces together was less than perfect and his shell
[00:04:44.880]became rough. This is why the Tortoise has a cracked shell.
[00:04:49.840]The moral of the story is, it is not good to be greedy because
[00:04:54.820]Tortoise was greedy. The birds decided to pay him back in his own coin.
[00:05:00.010]And that led to him having a cracked shell.
[00:05:03.460]I hope you enjoyed my story. Thank you.

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How the Tortoise Got Its Cracked Shell

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