Two tortoises met on the road one day. One was carrying a smaller tortoise on its back and moved quite slowly, even for a tortoise. The other noticed this curious arrangement, but said nothing about it, nodded politely and continued on its way.

They passed again a few days later and the tortoise was intrigued to see two small tortoises up there, clinging to the uneven surface of the shell, but it said nothing about them, nodded politely and continued on its way.

The next time they met, the number of small tortoises had grown to three, and the pace of the tortoise beneath slowed to a crawl. The other tortoise could no longer let this go unremarked.

“Are those your little ones?” it asked, nodding at the three passengers.

“Are who my little ones?” the tortoise replied, twisting its head to see what it was talking about. In so doing, its back was raised and the tilt sent the smaller tortoises sliding to the ground.

“We’ll be on our way now, thank you,” they declared, and disappeared into the long grass without further comment.

The two tortoises looked at each other, nodded politely and continued on their way. A little faster than before.

 Richard Parkin, 2024