It is told that near a small lake in the middle of the forest lived a small turtle and two ducks in love and harmony. The turtle was known for her chatter and inability to refrain from speaking. In the summer season, severe drought afflicted the place around the lake to a pond that almost dried of water.
The two ducks decided to leave in search of a water source to live near. When the turtle heard their decision, she was very sad and knew that her end was inevitable. She couldn’t live without water, nor could she travel long distances due to her extreme slowness.
The two ducks felt pity for the turtle and offered her an idea: We will hold the ends of a branch with our beaks and you will bind it in the middle with your mouth, and we will fly with you and transport you with us, but you must refrain from speaking throughout the journey. The turtle agreed without thinking and believed she had escaped her predicament. In the middle of the journey, the forest animals saw them. Some of them said to each other: Look at this strange scene, a turtle flying with birds. Without thinking, the turtle opened her mouth, saying: What’s the wonder in that? So she fell from the sky when the branch slipped.
She almost died except that she fell into a pile of straw. The turtle learned to use her mind every time if she wanted to speak.
In the past, they said: If speech is silver, then silence is gold.