A Tortoise, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly.

An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation and asked what reward she would give him if he would take her aloft and float her in the air.

“I will give you,” the Tortoise said, “all the riches of the Red Sea.”

“I will teach you to fly then,” said the Eagle; and taking her up in his talons he carried the Tortoise almost to the clouds.

Suddenly the Eagle let the Tortoise go, and she fell on a lofty mountain, dashing her shell to pieces.

The Tortoise exclaimed just before she died: “I have deserved my present fate; why did I think I was meant for wings and clouds, when I have such difficulty moving about on the earth?’

Moral: Think about the consequences before you wish for something.

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