The Turtle and The Elephant
Nick Latty
One day in the jungle, an elephant was splashing his long, scaly tail in the water to cool himself off. Suddenly, a turtle surfaced from the glistening lake.
"Hello, my good friend Elephant," the turtle said.
"Good afternoon, Turtle," replied the elephant.
"Say, don't you wish you had a short and stout tail like mine? It's much more comfortable. Besides, you have that long trunk to splash yourself with. How about letting me have your tail, just for a little bit?"
"I guess it couldn't hurt," the elephant said reluctantly. The turtle waddled up and chomped his beak near the top of the elephants reptilian tail.
"That didn't hurt much at all!" the elephant smiled.
But, when the tail hit the grassy ground, it started to wiggle and squirm.
"AHH!" the turtle said, hiding away in his shell.
"What is that?" the elephant questioned.
The tail suddenly sprung up like a spike and slithered over to where the Elephant and Turtle were cowering in fear.
"I am the Ssssssserpent of Greed. You may to to blind to sssssee, but Turtle was trying to sssssteal your preciousssss tail, all becaussse he was jealoussss. Now he sssshall feel the wrath of greed..." and with that, Turtle was turned into a flower, wilting with shame. And to this day, the elephant still has a short tail from this incident
"Hello, my good friend Elephant," the turtle said.
"Good afternoon, Turtle," replied the elephant.
"Say, don't you wish you had a short and stout tail like mine? It's much more comfortable. Besides, you have that long trunk to splash yourself with. How about letting me have your tail, just for a little bit?"
"I guess it couldn't hurt," the elephant said reluctantly. The turtle waddled up and chomped his beak near the top of the elephants reptilian tail.
"That didn't hurt much at all!" the elephant smiled.
But, when the tail hit the grassy ground, it started to wiggle and squirm.
"AHH!" the turtle said, hiding away in his shell.
"What is that?" the elephant questioned.
The tail suddenly sprung up like a spike and slithered over to where the Elephant and Turtle were cowering in fear.
"I am the Ssssssserpent of Greed. You may to to blind to sssssee, but Turtle was trying to sssssteal your preciousssss tail, all becaussse he was jealoussss. Now he sssshall feel the wrath of greed..." and with that, Turtle was turned into a flower, wilting with shame. And to this day, the elephant still has a short tail from this incident
Moral: Greed has never been kind, and never will.