Panchatantra

Turtle and Swans

There was a turtle living in a pond. There were two swans who were good friends of the turtle. The swans always told him about the distant lands and mountains where they used to travel. They also shared about the beautiful landscape which was visible from high in the sky.

Turtle wants to Fly

The turtle also wanted to enjoy a view from the clouds. He requested the swans to find out some way so that he could also fly in the air. The swans agreed to find out some ways. The swans came with a stick and asked the turtle to grasp it with mouth. They said that they would hold the stick in their beaks and would fly in the air. They also told the turtle to keep its mouth shut during the flight otherwise it would fall from the sky.

turtle talking to swans

Turtle talks

Thus, a great adventure began for the turtle. The swans quickly reached very high in the sky. The turtle was overawed at seeing the vast swathe of land. All through his life, he had never seen anything beyond his small pond. After some time, they were flying over a village. Many people in the village were looking up in the sky in surprise. They had never seen a tutrle flying like that. There was cacophony all around. The turtle was also happy at getting all the attention. He was overjoyed and yelled to express his joy. But his joy was shortlived as he fell on the ground with a loud thud and was killed instantly.

The moral of the story is, "One should speak only at the right moment."