Two Turtle Jatakas
I chose these two stories so that you could see that the same animal (here, a turtle) can play different roles in different stories: in the first story, the turtle is a trickster (he will probably remind you of Bre'r Rabbit in the briar patch), but in the second story, the turtle acts very foolishly indeed.
Both stories come from the versions in Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt.
THE TURTLE AND THE KING
A king once had a lake made in the courtyard for the young princes to play in. They swam about in it, and sailed their boats and rafts on it. One day the king told them he had asked the men to put some fishes into the lake.
Off the boys ran to see the fishes. Now, along with the fishes, there was a Turtle. The boys were delighted with the fishes, but they had never seen a Turtle, and they were afraid of it, thinking it was a demon. They ran back to their father, crying, "There is a demon on the bank of the lake."
The king ordered his men to catch the demon, and to bring it to the palace. When the Turtle was brought in, the boys cried and ran away. The king was very fond of his sons, so he ordered the men who had brought the Turtle to kill it.
"How shall we kill it?" they asked.
"Pound it to powder," said some one.
"Bake it in hot coals," said another.
So one plan after another was spoken of. Then an old man who had always been afraid of the water said, "Throw the thing into the lake where it flows out over the rocks into the river. Then it will surely be killed."
When the Turtle heard what the old man said, he thrust out his head and asked, "Friend, what have I done that you should do such a dreadful thing as that to me? The other plans were bad enough, but to throw me into the lake! Don't speak of such a cruel thing!"
When the king heard what the Turtle said, he told his men to take the Turtle at once and throw it into the lake.
The Turtle laughed to himself as he slid away down the river to his old home. "Good!" he said; "those people do not know how safe I am in the water!"
THE TURTLE AND THE GEESE
A Turtle lived in a pond at the foot of a hill. Two young wild Geese, looking for food, saw the Turtle, and talked with him. The next day the Geese came again to visit the Turtle and they became very well acquainted. Soon they were great friends.
"Friend Turtle," the Geese said one day, "we have a beautiful home far away. We are going to fly back to it tomorrow. It will be a long but pleasant journey. Will you go with us?"
"How could I? I have no wings," said the Turtle.
"Oh, we will take you, if only you can keep your mouth shut, and say not a word to anybody," they said.
"I can do that," said the Turtle. "Do take me with you. I will do exactly as you wish."
So the next day the Geese brought a stick and they held the ends of it. "Now take the middle of this in your mouth, and don't say a word until we reach home," they said.
The Geese then sprang into the air, with the Turtle between them, holding fast to the stick.
The village children saw the two Geese flying along with the Turtle and cried out, "Oh, see the Turtle up in the air! Look at the Geese carrying a Turtle by a stick! Did you ever see anything more ridiculous in your life!"
The Turtle looked down and began to say, "Well, and if my friends carry me, what business is that of yours?" when he let go, and fell dead at the feet of the children.
As the two Geese flew on, they heard the people say when they came to see the poor Turtle, "That fellow could not keep his mouth shut. He had to talk, and so lost his life."
Illustrations. Turtle in court by Ellsworth Young. Flying turtle by Grandville.