Tortoise the Birds and the Feast

Tortoise the Birds and the Feast

Not long ago the animals in a forest were pushed to hardship. Famine had set in the forest and the Tortoise was starving. All of a sudden he heard that the sky god was about to give a feast to the birds. he felt he should also attend the feast. Hence he convinced all other birds to take him with them. So the birds stuck feathers to his arms so that he could also fly. Tortoise was so happy to wear the feathers and he requested the birds to call him on his new appearance. To this the birds agreed. The sky god was to happy to receive his guests and laid a grand spread for all the birds. As soon as he saw the food, the Tortoise became greedy and immediately he told the birds that the entire food was for him and he would not allow the birds to even touch the food. The birds remained silent and watched the Tortoise eat up all the food. They felt cheated and wanted to teach the Tortoise a lesson. They went to the Tortoise and invited him for the feast that was to be held in the land. So when all of the birds and the Tortoise reached the place, the head among the birds announced that no one will eat if they had dirty claws. So the Tortoise went to a nearby pond to clean himself. After washing himself the Tortoise reached to the spot but noticed that while walking back his limbs became dirty> He tried many times but was not able to keep his limbs from becoming dirty. The birds began to mock at him and said please watch us how we eat the food. The birds started to laugh at the plight of the Tortoise.

Source: 365 Folk Tales – Om Book International.