THE TORTOISE WHO PHILOSOPHISED BECAUSE HE HAD A SHELL
Once upon a time, there was a cluster of nice big fat worms that were having a whale of a time in the mud.
They were suddenly spotted by four cocks and a hen, which quickly started to peck at them as if they were grains of maize. The unfortunates tried to flee, to escape a certain death, but they would never have made it as we all know that worms are slow; the worm seems to be born of nature which loves to play cruel jokes on its creations!
The four cocks and the hen pecked at them and waved them around in the air before swallowing them, scattering some of the mud that was splashed all over them onto the ground.
A tortoise who had only just come out of hibernation a few moments before, saw the worms floundering in the quagmire and started barking out orders: “You, run away! Come on, run, run! Damn you! Come on, come on! Just run; hey, jump into that hole there. Hey, I’m talking to you; if you hide in that corner the cocks and the hen will never get you! ” He continued: “Oh look at that one, how stupid can you get! The fool came out into the open! Damn and damn again! Ha, worms, you worms don’t know a thing! The thorn bushes the thorn bushes, hide in the bushes! Ohhhh…caught! Pity, he was almost safe…”
A worm, seized by both panic and rage, started to shout from the far side of the quagmire: “Once a worms always a worm, but however stupid a tortoise is, it always has its armour to protect it! So if you really are so clever and want to show us, just chase away the cocks and the hens if you can! “
“Why, how cheeky! ” bawled the tortoise. “What, you mean you don’t even know that I’m not really very fast at all, because my shell gets in the way? Ha, if only I didn’t have this shell…but my dear worm, you don’t even know that do you? “
…But the poor worm couldn’t answer back because it was already inside the hen’s belly.