Tradition and story time — not medical advice
How the Turtle Saved His Own Life
Retold for young children from Jataka Tales (retold by Ellen C. Babbitt, 1912), public domain.
A king once had a pond made in his courtyard, just for his children to play in. They swam in it, and sailed little boats on it, and one day the king had some fish put in to make it even more fun.
Along with the fish came a turtle. The children had never seen one before, and it looked so strange to them that they ran to their father crying that there was a creature in the pond.
The king loved his children so much that he ordered his men to take the turtle away and get rid of it for good. His men argued over the best way to do it, until an old man who was afraid of water said, "Throw it into the river, where the current is strong. That will finish it."
When the turtle heard this, he stuck out his head and begged, "Please, not that! Anything but the river!" — hoping with all his heart that they would believe him.
The plan worked exactly as he hoped. The king's men marched the turtle straight to the river and threw him in, sure they were punishing him. But the turtle just laughed to himself as he swam happily away home. "Those people," he said, "have no idea how safe I am in the water."
Talk about it (ours, not from the source): the turtle knew something the king's men didn't. Can you think of a time you knew something a grown-up didn't guess?
Source: Jataka Tales, retold by Ellen C. Babbitt (1912, The Century Co.) — "How the Turtle Saved His Own Life". Public domain. Read the original.
Why public domain: US: first published 1912, more than 95 years ago, so public domain in the US regardless of the author's death date (Project Gutenberg eBook #62514).