Today, it’s a children’s story from Panchatantra about a turtle who can’t stop talking. Let’s read it. If you prefer to read it in Gujarati, Click Here.

Long, long ago, there lived a turtle in a pond. He was friend with two geese (Geese is the plural form of Goose – you know what a goose is, right? It’s a bird like a Swan, not a Swan though!).

The geese used to visit this pond frequently so; all the three of them, the two geese and the turtle became very good friends. They enjoyed talking to each other and sharing their experiences.

The turtle liked to listen to the stories from the far land, told to him by his friends.

He used to think if he could also fly. All of them were living happily. The area faced a widespread of drought for several months (when there is very low rainfall or no rain at all, the condition is called drought! You already knew this? Very smart you are!!). So, due to drought all the rivers, lakes and ponds went dry. There remained very little water in the pond where the turtle lived.

Troubled by the thirst and scorching heat; birds and animals decided to migrate to some fertile lands where they could get enough water and food for living. The three friends also had to move to some better place.

They decided to go to a distant lake that was full of water. Flying to that distant lake was easy for both the geese, but what about the turtle? How could he reach to the lake that was quite far from this pond? It was impossible for him to reach there on foot. Poor turtle was disappointed. All the three started thinking about some solution. Geese didn’t want their dear friend to leave behind.

One of the geese had an idea. He said, “I have a suggestion! What if the turtle holds a piece of stick in his mouth, and both of us fly slowly carrying each end of the stick in our beaks!?” The other goose and the turtle were very excited and agreed upon the solution. The only condition was the turtle could not speak while the geese would carry him. Turtle happily accepted to keep his mouth shut while travelling. But the geese were worried as they knew that the turtle was very talkative, and not to speak a single word was almost impossible for him. The turtle understanding his friends’ concern, promised not to open his mouth during the journey to the distant lake. And the day came when they had to start their journey, saying goodbye to their native pond. All the three were ready early in the morning. The geese were very much concerned, while the turtle was more excited.

Forewarning the turtle, one of the geese said, “Look my friend, we’re about to start for the distant lake and we will be passing over many places. Just keep in mind; you must not open your mouth in any case.” Understanding the instruction, the turtle nodded in agreement. Thus, the geese held the ends of the stick in their beaks, and the turtle grabbed middle part the stick with his teeth. They start flying. The geese went on flying higher and higher. Under them were passing some hills, valleys, plains and maidans. The turtle was amazed by seeing all this.

Astonished by the scenery, he was enjoying the cool wind. Now, as they just flew over a town; people of the town were taken by surprise as they had never seen any such view before. (What if we see a turtle flying with two geese? Of course, we’ll be shocked than surprised, right??) By seeing a turtle carried away by two geese like this, they started laughing and shouting at them. This cranky act by people annoyed the turtle a lot. He became very anxious by looking at the people who were making fun of them. Listening to the noise, angry turtle lost control of his mind and decided to explain the whole situation to the people.

As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he lost the grip on the stick. And in no time he fell on the ground to his death. What a pity!! Everything happened so quickly that the geese could hardly understand the reason of their friend’s sudden death.

But we know that the turtle died of his foolishness and frustration.

The End.

I found a few more moral stories for kids.