Bedtime stories · Panchatantra
The Tortoise Who Couldn't Stop Talking
Short on time? The 1-minute version
A tortoise named Kambugrīva lived in a lake with his two goose friends. When a drought dried the lake, the geese came up with a plan: they would hold a stick in their beaks, the tortoise would bite the middle, and they'd fly him to a new lake. “Just don't open your mouth!” they warned. High above a village, people pointed and laughed. The tortoise couldn't resist answering back… he opened his mouth, let go of the stick, and fell. If only he had listened and kept quiet a little longer.
In a sparkling blue lake, among the lotus flowers, lived a tortoise named Kambugrīva. He had a shiny green shell, a kind heart and a mouth that never stopped talking.
He talked to the fish. He talked to the frogs. He talked to the lotus flowers, even though they never answered. But most of all, he talked to his two best friends: a pair of geese named Saṅkaṭa and Vikaṭa, who flew in every evening to sit by the water and listen to his stories.
For many happy years, the three friends shared the lake.
Then one summer, the rains didn’t come.
Day after day the sun blazed. The lake grew smaller… and smaller… and smaller. The lotus flowers drooped. The fish huddled together in the muddy middle.
“We must leave,” said Saṅkaṭa sadly. “We’ll fly to a big lake we know, far away over the hills, where the water is deep and cool.”
“But what about me?” said the tortoise, his voice small for once. “I can’t fly! I’ll be left all alone in the dry mud.”
The geese looked at each other. They thought hard. Then Vikaṭa’s eyes lit up.
“I have an idea! We’ll find a strong stick. Each of us will hold one end in our beak. You bite tight onto the middle, and we’ll fly you there together!”
“Wonderful!” cried the tortoise. “Brilliant! Marvellous! Let’s go right now and…”
“Wait,” said Saṅkaṭa firmly. “There is one rule. Once we’re in the sky, you must not open your mouth. Not to speak, not to laugh, not to sneeze. No matter what happens. Do you promise?”
“I promise,” said the tortoise. “I won’t say a single word. Not one. You’ll see. I’ll be the quietest tortoise who ever…”
“Kambugrīva.”
“…right. Sorry. Quiet.”
So the geese found a strong, smooth stick. The tortoise bit down hard in the middle. Up, up, up they flew, over the dry fields and the dusty roads, higher than the tortoise had ever been in his whole life.
It was amazing! He could see rivers like silver ribbons and trees like little green broccoli. He wanted to say “Look at that!” so badly, but he kept his mouth shut tight.
Then they flew over a village.
The people below looked up and saw a very strange sight: two geese carrying a tortoise on a stick!
“Look! Look!” shouted the children, pointing and laughing. “A flying tortoise! How silly! The geese are carrying him off for their dinner!”
The tortoise’s face grew hot. Silly? Dinner? He wanted to explain. He wanted to tell them that he was going on an adventure with his best friends, thank you very much, and that he was not anybody’s dinner, and…
He opened his mouth. “Now listen here, you…”
And the moment he opened his mouth, he let go of the stick.
Down, down, down tumbled the tortoise, head over shell, and landed with a great THUMP in a pile of hay at the edge of the village. He wasn’t badly hurt, but he was very far from his friends. And he was very far from the cool, deep lake.
High above, the two geese circled sadly. “If only he had listened,” said Saṅkaṭa. “If only he had kept quiet a little longer,” said Vikaṭa.
The end.
A note for parents: in the original Panchatantra the tortoise does not survive his fall. We’ve softened the ending for younger listeners. Older children may enjoy hearing the traditional version and talking about why the storytellers made the consequence so serious.
The lesson
Listen to good advice, and know when to keep quiet. Some moments are for speaking, and some are for holding on.
Talk about it at bedtime
- Why did the geese tell the tortoise not to talk?
- Why do you think the tortoise opened his mouth anyway?
- When is it a good idea to stay quiet, even when you really want to say something?
Sources
- Panchatantra, Book 1 (Mitrabheda, “The Loss of Friends”) — the story of the tortoise and the two geese; retold in our own words for children
Written in our own words from public-domain texts, as a simple way in. The original texts are always the best teacher. Spotted something to improve? Tell us.