Once a tortoise lived near a pond in a forest. One day he met a pair of geese who had come to drink water from the pond. "Hello", said the tortoise. "It is a beautiful day. Too good to sit inside the house. Where do you live?"
"Not far from here" replied Shanti, one of the geese. "We often come to drink water, but we have never seen you before."
"I usually stay indoors," replied the tortoise.
He and the geese became friends and started meeting every day. The tortoise would come out of the pond and the three would spend a long time wandering around the forest happily talking and gossiping.
Not long after, there was a famine and the trees in the forest died as the rivers and ponds dried up. Many birds and animals died because there was no water available. Those that lived in the forest started looking for somewhere else to live. Even the geese decided to leave for a better place.
Before leaving, they came to the tortoise and said, "We have decided to go away from this dry forest before we also die. We have come to say goodbye to you and wish you all the best."
"So you are leaving me to face my death?" cried the tortoise. "What kind of friends of you? I am so frightened living here alone and facing this deadly environment. Take me with you," he pleaded.
"How can we take you with us?" Shanti replied. "You cannot fly. We do not wish to leave you here to face death, but we don't know how to take you with us."
"I know I can't fly," the tortoise said with tears in his eyes. "But you can help me. I can tell you how, if you are willing to take me along."
