An updated version of this story can be found here.
Once upon a time there lived a bale of turtles in the north end of a very long river. The weather became much colder so the turtles found themselves huddling closer together and digging themselves deeper into to the bed of the river every night.
The leader of the bale was Anthony. Anthony was a wise and old turtle and everyone respected him expect for the foolish and young turtle, Timothy. Anthony announced to the bale that he thought it should be time to migrate to the south end of the river due to the cold weather. Anthony explained that the journey would be dangerous, but it would be better than freezing to death.
The foolish and young turtle Timothy announced to the bale that he was going to start on the journey by himself because he didn't want the others holding him back and causing more danger. So Timothy left on his journey to the south end of the river by himself.
A day later the rest of the bale left together. Anthony was secretly happy that Timothy went on his own because he knew the journey would be nearly impossible without a bale of turtles behind him helping along the way. Anthony hoped that the journey alone would turn Anthony into a turtle with a better and more likable personality.
As Timothy swam down the river he collected food. Because he didn't have other turtles helping him collect food along the way. He had to hold extra food in his mouth just incase he couldn't find find later down the river.
Towards the end of what Timothy thought his journey would be, Timothy encountered a group of crabs munching on their dinner. The crabs made sure to tell Timothy that there was plenty of food available for the rest of his journey to the south end of the river. So Timothy dropped his extra food and continued swimming.
Little did Timothy know that the group of crabs that he encountered were pranksters and just wanted the Timothy to suffer. So Timothy swam and swam and swam and still didn't reach the south end of the pond. Timothy began to get extremely hungry and felt ill so instead of swimming more, he buried himself in the sand so he could hibernate until someone would find him. Deep down he was hoping that his old bale would find him along their journey.
A couple of days later Anthony and the rest of the turtles were swimming past the area where Timothy was hibernating and someone noticed bubbles coming up from the sand. One of the baby turtles commented and said that there must be a turtle sleeping down in that sand.
Anthony was curious so he went down to the bottom of the river and started to dig. And to his surprise he found Timothy. He woke Timothy up and Timothy was so happy to see Anthony that Timothy began to cry. Timothy explained to Anthony and the others about how hungry he had become because he dropped all of his extra food.
The rest of the bale offered a little bit of food to Timothy and Timothy broke down crying even more. Timothy told everyone that he was sorry and should have stuck with the rest of the bale from the beginning. Timothy begged for Anthony's forgiveness.
Anthony was hesitant but realized that Timothy has learned a really big lesson. Anthony allowed Timothy to travel the rest of the way to the south end of the pond with the rest of the turtle bale. And Timothy was known as the humble turtle from then on.
Author's Note:
This story is based off of the story of the Wise and the Foolish Merchant from the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. In the Wise and the Foolish Merchant, two merchants bought a great big supply of goods and were going to be traveling through the same desert. The Wise Merchant realized that the two should not be traveling together so the foolish merchant said he would go on the journey first because he would get the best water, the best choice of grass for his ox, etc. The Wise Merchant was happy about this because that meant that the Foolish Merchant would be the path easier for the Wise Merchant. During the Foolish Merchant's journey he encountered a demon that convinced him to drop his supply of water so he did. The Wise Merchant also encountered the demon but the Wise Merchant knew it was a demon so he didn't listen to him. The Wise Merchant was successful during his journey while the Foolish Merchant didn't make it.
Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Once upon a time there lived a bale of turtles in the north end of a very long river. The weather became much colder so the turtles found themselves huddling closer together and digging themselves deeper into to the bed of the river every night.
The leader of the bale was Anthony. Anthony was a wise and old turtle and everyone respected him expect for the foolish and young turtle, Timothy. Anthony announced to the bale that he thought it should be time to migrate to the south end of the river due to the cold weather. Anthony explained that the journey would be dangerous, but it would be better than freezing to death.
The foolish and young turtle Timothy announced to the bale that he was going to start on the journey by himself because he didn't want the others holding him back and causing more danger. So Timothy left on his journey to the south end of the river by himself.
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A day later the rest of the bale left together. Anthony was secretly happy that Timothy went on his own because he knew the journey would be nearly impossible without a bale of turtles behind him helping along the way. Anthony hoped that the journey alone would turn Anthony into a turtle with a better and more likable personality.
As Timothy swam down the river he collected food. Because he didn't have other turtles helping him collect food along the way. He had to hold extra food in his mouth just incase he couldn't find find later down the river.
Towards the end of what Timothy thought his journey would be, Timothy encountered a group of crabs munching on their dinner. The crabs made sure to tell Timothy that there was plenty of food available for the rest of his journey to the south end of the river. So Timothy dropped his extra food and continued swimming.
Little did Timothy know that the group of crabs that he encountered were pranksters and just wanted the Timothy to suffer. So Timothy swam and swam and swam and still didn't reach the south end of the pond. Timothy began to get extremely hungry and felt ill so instead of swimming more, he buried himself in the sand so he could hibernate until someone would find him. Deep down he was hoping that his old bale would find him along their journey.
A couple of days later Anthony and the rest of the turtles were swimming past the area where Timothy was hibernating and someone noticed bubbles coming up from the sand. One of the baby turtles commented and said that there must be a turtle sleeping down in that sand.
Anthony was curious so he went down to the bottom of the river and started to dig. And to his surprise he found Timothy. He woke Timothy up and Timothy was so happy to see Anthony that Timothy began to cry. Timothy explained to Anthony and the others about how hungry he had become because he dropped all of his extra food.
The rest of the bale offered a little bit of food to Timothy and Timothy broke down crying even more. Timothy told everyone that he was sorry and should have stuck with the rest of the bale from the beginning. Timothy begged for Anthony's forgiveness.
Anthony was hesitant but realized that Timothy has learned a really big lesson. Anthony allowed Timothy to travel the rest of the way to the south end of the pond with the rest of the turtle bale. And Timothy was known as the humble turtle from then on.
Author's Note:
This story is based off of the story of the Wise and the Foolish Merchant from the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. In the Wise and the Foolish Merchant, two merchants bought a great big supply of goods and were going to be traveling through the same desert. The Wise Merchant realized that the two should not be traveling together so the foolish merchant said he would go on the journey first because he would get the best water, the best choice of grass for his ox, etc. The Wise Merchant was happy about this because that meant that the Foolish Merchant would be the path easier for the Wise Merchant. During the Foolish Merchant's journey he encountered a demon that convinced him to drop his supply of water so he did. The Wise Merchant also encountered the demon but the Wise Merchant knew it was a demon so he didn't listen to him. The Wise Merchant was successful during his journey while the Foolish Merchant didn't make it.
Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt
Hey! I also really liked this story. I thought that it would be a nice story to rewrite as well because it has a very relatable theme. Having wisdom is so important in life. The foolish merchant very stood a chance against the evil in the story. I wish the original story expanded more the the opposites, but I really enjoyed reading your take on it.
ReplyDeleteHey Chelsea, I read the updated version of this story on your project page, but the link you included here sent me to an error page, so you might check the URL you linked. When you wrote about Timothy scavenging for food, you switch back and forth between the names Anthony and Timothy. I’m glad that you gave this story a happier ending! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHey, Chelsea, I liked that you told this story as a story of turtles! I also liked that you gave it a bit of a fable feel with the lesson Timothy learns at the end. I also like that the ending is a bit happier than the original story. Thanks for sharing and making the story about turtles. Also, I totally didn't know that a group of turtles was called a bale, so that was cool to learn.
ReplyDelete