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Prev Fables
Group Four
31 The brash gnat
32 The enemy's trumpeter
33 A tortoise dies
34 A doomed man
35 The scorpion stings
36 A wolf finds reasons
37 The stork chooses
38 The tricky wolf
39 A donkey thinks
40 A patient dies
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33. Tortoise Dies Trying To Fly
A tortoise once called to an eagle flying by,
Hey, what would you charge to teach me to fly?
And the eagle looked down with a groan and frowned:
Little friend, you were made to stay on the ground!
Baloney!
said the tortoise as the eagle landed near
You're the most selfish eagle anywhere around here!
You act high and mighty with
the tricks you know,
And you don't care at all for
the creatures below.
OK
, eagle said,
Here, I'll grab your leg
And I'll teach you to fly if you just won't beg!
So the eagle grabbed the tortoise and shot up high
Like a bright flying star in the midnight sky
Then he loosened his grip and
the tortoise plunged down
And schmushed like a fritter
when he hit the ground,
Then that eagle sang out in the
tone of a saint:
Only terrible fools try to be
what they ain't.
MORAL: The wise avoid foolish expectations.
from the book Praying Your Story and the forthcoming book Aesop's Best: 80 Fables in Verse by William Cleary
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