Once upon a time there was a turtle who was very kind and patient. He had many friends. Among them was a monkey, who was very selfish. He always wanted to have the best part of everything.

 

One day the monkey went to visit the turtle. The monkey asked his friend to accompany him on a journey to the next village. The turtle agreed, and they started early the next morning. The monkey did not take much food with him, because he did not like to carry a heavy load. The turtle, on the contrary, took a big supply. He advised the monkey to take more, but the monkey only laughed at him. After they had been travelling five days, the monkey’s food was all gone, so the turtle had to give him some. The monkey was greedy, and kept asking for more all the time. “Give me some more, friend turtle!” he said.

 

“Wait a little while,” said the turtle. “We have just finished eating.”

 

As the monkey made no reply, they travelled on. After a few minutes the monkey stopped, and said, “Can’t you travel a little faster?”

 

“I can’t, for I have a very heavy load,” said the turtle.

 

“Give me the load, and then we shall get along more rapidly,” said the monkey. The turtle handed over all his food to the monkey, who ran away as fast as he could, leaving the turtle far behind.

 

“Wait for me!” said the turtle, doing his best to catch his friend; but the monkey only shouted, “Come on!” and scampered² [370]out of sight. The turtle was soon very tired and much out of breath, but he kept on. The monkey climbed a tree by the roadside, and looked back. When he saw his friend very far in the rear³, he ate some of the food. At last the turtle came up. He was very hungry, and asked the monkey for something to eat.

 

“Come on a little farther,” said the selfish monkey. “We will eat near a place where we can get water.” The turtle did not say anything, but kept plodding⁴ on. The monkey ran ahead and did the same thing as before, but this time he ate all the food.

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