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'Once all the animals held a meeting. They wanted to
make a plan with Lion. See, long ago, Lion could fly
and come down to earth and kill poeple and animals.
'The animals waited until Lion came flying above their
heads and pleaded with him.
"Big man," they said, "come back here,
come back, come back..." And when the Lion came
down to earth, the animals tore his wings off his body
and said, "Go, go, go! Walk!"
'The animals mixed a pot of glue and cooked it on the
fire. They wanted to see on whose back the wings fitted
best. It was the Eagle that received the power of flight.
And so they glued the wings on to his back. Eagle soared
into the sky. He flew up and away.
Lion became furious and stormed at the animals. They
ran so fast that Lion could not catch them. But poor
Tortoise could not run so fast. While trying to get
away, he knocked the pot of glue over and got stuck
in it.
'Lion returned to the fire, grumbling and growling.
He was so angry that he even tried to eat Frog at the
rivers edge. He found Tortoise stuck in the glue and
said, "Now I'm going to eat you!" And so the
Lion ate the Tortoise'.
Is this why the tortoises still hide underneath their
shells?
Story supplied from 'My Elands Heart' by Marlene Sullivan
Winberg
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