Talkative Tortoise 🐢 #12

Hello everyone, it's Bridgeen back again with another Corona Jackanory story for you. Tonight's story is for children, though parental guidance is advised because it could be a wee bit traumatizing. I actually never read this story to children. I usually read it to my adults, especially my badly behaved adults, if they're coming on a silent day and I need them to, to be really quiet. So it's fun, it's a nice wee story. Let me know what you think. It's called The Talkative Tortoise. Maybe we should all learn silence early in our life. It might help us avoid much of the trouble later on. I tell the following story about the vital importance of keeping quiet to children visiting our centre. In a lake in the mountains, a long time ago, there lived a talkative tortoise. Whenever he met any of the animals that shared his waterside home, he would talk to them so much and for so long without any pauses that his listeners became bored, then bothered, then annoyed. They often wondered how Talkative Tortoise was able to talk so long without taking a breath. They thought he must have been breathing through his ears since he never used them for listening. He was such a torturing Talkative Tortoise that rabbits would suddenly dive into their holes, birds would fly to the top of the trees, and fish would hide behind rocks whenever they saw Talkative Tortoise approaching. They knew that they would be stuck there for hours if Talkative Tortoise started talking to them. Talkative Tortoise was actually quite lonely. Every year in the summer, a pair of magnificent white swans would come on vacation to the mountain lake. They were kind because they let Talkative Tortoise talk to them as much as he liked. Or perhaps they knew that they would only be visiting for a couple of months. Talkative Tortoise adored the company of swans. He would talk to them until the stars ran out of twinkle, and the swans would always listen patiently. When summer was fading and the days became cold, the swans prepared to go home. Talkative Tortoise began to cry. He hated the cold and the loss of his friends. If only I could go with you, he sighed. Sometimes when the snow covers the slopes and my lake ices over, I feel so cold and alone. We tortoises cannot fly, and if I were to walk, by the time I even got a little way, it would be time to come back. Tortoises walk slowly. The compassionate swans were touched by the sadness in Talkative Tortoise, so they made him an offer. Dear Tortoise, don't cry. We can take you with us if you can only keep one promise. Yes, yes, I promise! said Talkative Tortoise excitedly, though he did not know what he had to promise yet. We tortoises always keep our promises. In fact, I remember promising to Rabbit to try to be quiet only a few days ago, and After I told him about all the different types of tortoiseshells and— Eeeeh! One whole hour later, when Talkative Tortoise stopped talking and the swans could speak again, they said, Tortoise, you must promise to keep your mouth shut! Easy, said Talkative Tortoise. In fact, we tortoises are well known for keeping our mouths shut. We hardly ever speak at all. I was explaining this to a fish just the other day. Hmm. One more hour later, when Talkative Tortoise paused again, the swans told Talkative Tortoise to bite onto the middle of a long stick and make sure he kept his mouth shut. Then one swan took one end of the stick into her beak and the second swan closed his beak Onto the other end of the stick. They flapped their wings and nothing happened. Talkative Tortoise was too heavy. People who talk a lot tend to eat a lot, and Talkative Tortoise was so fat that sometimes he couldn't even squeeze into his own shell. The swans chose a lighter stick. Then, with the swans biting either end of the stick, and Talkative Tortoise biting the middle, the 2 swans flapped their wings as hard as any swans have ever flapped before and rose up into the air. With the swans rose the stick, and with the stick rose the tortoise. This was the first time in the history of our world that a tortoise ever flew. Higher and higher they soared. Talkative Tortoise's lake grew smaller and smaller. Even the huge mountains now seemed tiny in the distance. He was seeing amazing sights that no other tortoise had ever seen before. He was carefully trying to remember it all to tell his friends, of course, when he got back home. Over the mountains they flew. And then down to the plains. All was going well until about half past 3 in the afternoon. They passed over a school where the children had just come out. A small boy happened to look up. What do you think he saw? A flying tortoise! Hey! he shouted to his friends. Look at that stupid tortoise flying! The tortoise couldn't stop himself. Who are you calling? Oops! Stupid! Splat! went Talkative Tortoise as he crashed to the ground. And that was the last sound that he made. Talkative Tortoise died because he couldn't keep his mouth shut when it really mattered. So if you don't learn how to keep quiet at the proper times, then when it is very important, you will not be able to keep your mouth shut. You might end up as flat as a hamburger patty, like poor talkative tortoise. Thank you very much.