The Tortoise and the Two Geese

In a lake there lived a tortoise and two geese. They had been friends for years. One summer a drought came; the lake began to dry up. The geese said, "We are going to fly to another lake." The tortoise wept: "Don't leave me, I can't fly."

The geese thought. At last they found an idea: they brought a long stick. "We will take the two ends of the stick in our beaks, and you hold the middle in your mouth. We'll fly you there. But there is one condition: whatever happens, don't open your mouth. Not a single word."

The tortoise promised. They took off. For the first time the tortoise saw the world from the sky; fields, villages, rivers... He was very excited, but he kept his mouth shut tight.

As they passed over a village, the children below saw them. "Look, look! The geese are carrying a tortoise! What a silly tortoise, hanging from a stick!" they shouted.

The tortoise got angry. He opened his mouth to say, "You call me silly? This idea was mine..." and... he let go of the stick and fell. Luckily he landed on a pile of straw; his shell cracked, but his life was saved.

The geese came down and found him. "We told you not to open your mouth." The tortoise felt his shell: "It was the shortest flight in the world, but the biggest lesson in the world. Sometimes keeping quiet is harder than flying."

This time the geese carried the tortoise on their backs, in short flights, to the new lake. All the way the tortoise did not say a single word. When they reached the new lake, his first words were: "Thank you."