Tortoise and Bird

In a vibrant Nigerian village, there lived a Tortoise who was known far and wide for his cunning. His cleverness, however, was seldom used for good; more often, it was a tool to trick his neighbors out of their hard-earned meals.

One day, an exciting rumor reached the village: the King of the Heavens was throwing a magnificent feast, and every bird in the land was invited. Tortoise burned with envy. He longed to attend, but the heavens were a long journey away, and he, sadly, had no wings.

Undeterred, he devised a scheme. He approached the birds, his voice dripping with false friendship. “Dear neighbors,” he said, “we share this earth. Would it not be right for me to join you? I give you my word, I will be on my very best behavior.”

The birds were hesitant, for they knew his reputation. But Tortoise pleaded so earnestly that their hearts softened. Taking pity on him, each bird donated a single feather. With this generous gift, Tortoise fashioned a pair of magnificent, colorful wings for himself.

On the day of the journey, Tortoise had one more suggestion. “A meeting with the King is a royal affair,” he declared. “We should all take on noble, regal names for the occasion. I shall be known as ‘All of You’.” The birds, thinking it a harmless game, agreed and chose grand names for themselves.

When they soared into the heavens, the feast was more splendid than any of them had imagined. Tables groaned under the weight of delicious foods. As they gathered, the King of the Heavens welcomed them and instructed his servants, “Please, serve the food to all of you.”

In a flash, Tortoise stood up. “The King has spoken!” he announced. “The food is for ‘All of You’—and that is the royal name I bear!” Without a shred of shame, he proceeded to eat every last morsel, leaving the birds to watch with empty stomachs and growing anger.

Furious at his betrayal, the birds flocked to him and reclaimed the feathers they had so kindly given. In an instant, Tortoise’s beautiful wings vanished, and he was left stranded, unable to fly.

Stricken with panic and regret, Tortoise begged a passing bird to take a message down to his wife. “Please,” he implored, “tell her to bring every soft thing we own—mattresses, pillows, blankets—and pile them in the yard for my landing.”

But the birds had been fooled for the last time. The messenger, instead, told Tortoise’s wife to bring out all the hard things she could find—stones, hoes, and metal pots. When Tortoise, seeing no other choice, leaped from the sky, he landed with a terrible crash upon the hard pile.

His shell shattered into countless pieces. Though it was carefully mended, the cracks never truly disappeared, serving as a permanent reminder to all of what becomes of a greedy and treacherous heart.

Moral of the Story:
A house is just a structure, but a home is built from the hearts of those within it. The warmth of true togetherness and shared experience is a treasure far greater than any solitary luxury. For genuine happiness is found not in what we have, but in what we give and share with others.