The Tortoise and the Heron

An Indian pond heron. Photography by J.M Garg (2007).

Many, many years ago, there was a great big pond in the middle of a jungle. This pond was fed by a wide stream which swept down from the mountains. It bubbled and gurgled all day, providing a never-ending source of freshwater. The land around the pond was remarkably fertile and all kinds of things were able to grow in that little shaded pond.

Of all those animals which lived in the pond, the oldest and most-revered of them was the tortoise. He had been there far longer than anyone else. In fact, he had been there so long that he couldn’t remember when he had first come across the pond. He might have always lived here, but he couldn't say for sure. So wise did he seem to the other animals that they treated him as a god-king. They thought he could commune with the other gods and ask for favors. All they had to do for him was bring him enough food each day.

During one particularly hot summer, the stream which fed this pond started to dwindle. After a few weeks, the stream dried up completely and all that could be seen was the rocky bed. Pretty soon, the pond itself began to dry up. All of the animals were frightened. Of those animals which lived in the water, the fishes were the most frightened. They cried out to the tortoise, expecting him to have some wise plan. Surely he had seen days such as this, when there wasn’t enough rain to sustain the pond. Perhaps he knew how to bring the water back. Perhaps he could call upon the gods and ask them for more rain.

“Oh, wise tortoise!” the fish cried. “Why has the stream dried up? Please help restore it! If you don’t, we are sure to die.”

The tortoise thought that he could only restore the pond if he had his strength up. He cleared his ancient throat and said to the fish, “It has dried up because not enough of you have brought me the choicest plants. Go forth! Bring back the best herbage and I shall restore our pond.”

All of the little animals, not just the fish, helped find the choicest plants for their tortoise. When they brought the herbage back, he made quick work of it. He then told them to bring back some ripe, juicy berries. They did this and he ate the fruit even more quickly than he did the plants. He continued to demand even more food. The animals did as he said. Eventually, the tortoise ate everything that hadn’t dried up for lack of water.

The tortoise still demanded food, but those few remaining animals (so many having perished of hunger) told him there was nothing left. Given these circumstances, he decided now would be the best time to perform his rituals. He called for all of the pond’s inhabitants to gather at his part of the pond. Among those animals who attended were bush frogs, newts, caecilians, eels, and halfbeaks.

He performed several rituals in order to restore the pond, but nothing worked. No matter how fervently he performed these rituals, no rain came down, the pond remained low, and the stream stayed dry. He soon realized how powerless he was.

One day, while the tortoise sat despairing on his log, a heron appeared at the pond. She asked him what was wrong.

"I have tried to restore this pond and the stream which fed it, but nothing has worked. There's nothing for us to eat and my subjects are dwindling to nothing."

"I suspected as much when I flew over," the heron said. "I could help you and your subjects."

"How?"

"I know of another pond not too far from here," said the heron.

“Really?”

“I could take you and your subjects there. You would only have to climb in my beak.”

“How can I be sure you won’t eat all of us?”

“Why would I do that? I have seen how desperate you and your subjects are, so I must help you. It is my duty as your fellow animal.”

The tortoise agreed, but on the condition that he would stay behind until the last animal had been moved. He would help coordinate this exodus.

The tortoise gathered all of the animals and told them what was to be done. They were concerned at first about the heron eating them, but he told them of that bird's promise. The next day, all of the halfbeaks gathered in little groups, as did the frogs, the newts, the eels, and all of the other pond animals.

Once the animals had gathered together, the crane picked each group up one by one. But the heron had no intention of saving them. After picking up the fish and flying out of the sight of the old pond, she gulped them down. She flew back and forth several times, swallowing the fish each time, before it was the tortoise’s turn.

As the heron flew off towards “the new pond,” the tortoise looked down and saw all of the brilliant white fish bones scattered in the fields. He cried out and the heron tried to gulp him up. Unfortunately for the heron, the tortoise was too big to swallow in one gulp. The bird then tried to get the tortoise out of her mouth, but he bit her tongue and held on tight. Hoping the tortoise would get out if she landed, the heron stopped by a small pond. But before the tortoise left, he made sure to bite off the heron’s tongue.

“Both you and I have uttered untruths and have caused the deaths of many animals. Of that, we are both guilty. But while I thought I was helping, you only thought of our belly. You deceived us. For that, you are to be cursed for the rest of your days." With this, the tortoise snapped off the heron's tongue. "No longer will you have a tongue with which to deceive others!”

The tortoise climbed into the new pond and swam away. The heron flew off, angry with herself that she had been so thoroughly deceitful to the tortoise and the fish.

Author’s Note

This story is a combination of two folk tales from Dutton’s Fables of Bidpai: “The Tortoise and the Geese” and “The Crane and the Crab.” However, most of the story is derived from the "The Crane and the Crab," in that this story involves a bird taking another animal to "safety." In addition, the animal being carried sees evidence of the bird's deceitfulness and managed to escape. In "The Tortoise and the Geese," the creature being carried eventually becomes angry with the bird and drops to the earth. Rather than killing the tortoise, I thought it would be better if I let him redeem himself and teach a lesson to the heron. While the tortoise does deceive his subjects in a way, he does so unwittingly. He truly does think himself a sort of god-king who can bring back the water by performing rituals. The heron, on the other hand, knows full well that she is deceiving the creatures. While the tortoise has lost his friends for his deception, he is otherwise unscathed. The heron, on the other hand, must go through life with a physical sign of her deception.

Bibliography

Maude Dutton. The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai (1908).

Wikipedia. “List of fishes of India.”

World Atlas. “Native Amphibians of India.”