Once upon a time a king owned a magical drum. Some said this drum was the secret to the peace that filled his land, because whenever the king beat upon the drum, marvelous food and drink appeared. And so, whenever anyone declared war, he called his enemies to visit the palace. There he beat upon the drum, and before his guests' astonished gaze, a feast of delicacies appeared. αュㄜWww.ＦＡirｙ－ｔａlＥ．iＮfＯ∽◎P)も$

Then the king shared the feast with his enemies, and when they had eaten their fill, they felt so contented, they no longer wanted to fight.

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There was one catch to this. The owner of the drum could never step upon a fallen branch, for if he did, the juju, the magic of the drum, would disappear, and in its place the owner would reap nothing but trouble.

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The king became a wealthy man, but some envied the king, and everyone knows envy can be poisonous. ιたwWW.faＩRy-ＴaｌE．Ｉｎｆoο#へソ8へ

One day the tortoise was up in a palm tree cutting nuts for his family's meal. Suddenly one of the nuts he had cut fell to the ground. ∈ねＷｗw。FaIRy－TａLe.ＩｎＦＯゃニiò9@

Down below, the king's wife was bathing in the stream, and when she heard the nut fall, she turned. "Ah, that would taste good," she said, and without looking up, she ate the palm nut. ∏Ｗww．ｆａＩｒＹ-ＴAlＥ。ＩnfoЦY

Now when the tortoise climbed down from the tree and saw the king's wife, he bowed his head. "Excuse me," he asked. "Have you seen a palm nut here? One of mine dropped to the ground." ツUφㄏクWｗW．ｆＡiｒＹ-ＴaLe.iＮfＯnūκ9

"Why yes," she said, "I ate it. I did not know that it belonged to you." μほｗＷw．ｆAirＹ－ｔaＬE。ＩｎＦｏ

Now the tortoise had long envied the king's drum, and this gave him an idea. "Dear lady," he said, "I climbed that tree to get food for my family. We are awfully poor, and I work hard, but now you've stolen our food. I'm afraid I must report you to the king as a thief."

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Together they walked to the palace, and when the tortoise told the king what had happened, the king said, "We are sincerely sorry. Please, let me pay you for your loss. What would you like? Coins? Cloth? Oil? Beans?"

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"You may have whatever you wish. Only name it," the king said.

The tortoise pretended to think. He looked at the king's drum. "There. I'll take that drum," he said. ㄈサみkУｗＷW.fAIｒｙ－TAlＥ。iＮｆoC

By now the king was tired of the tortoise, and so he gave him the drum, but he didn't tell the tortoise about what would happen if he walked over a stick on the road.

Overjoyed, the tortoise hurried home with the drum. "I'm rich! I'm rich!" he cried. WＷｗ.ｆAＩrY－TalＥ。ｉNＦo

The tortoise began to beat the drum, and a feast appeared before the family's startled eyes. Before long, word spread of the tortoise's vast wealth, and the tortoise grew fat and lazy. He no longer worked. He simply ambled around the country bragging. ‖くwｗw．ＦＡｉrY-ｔａlＥ。ｉＮFOネψǔ∨~マ※

One day as he was trundling home, he happened to trip upon a stick, and though he did not know this at the time, the magic of his drum was instantly broken.

He arrived home tired and hungry, and his children were begging for food. The tortoise beat upon his drum, but this time, when he did, his house filled up with enemies swearing to make war on them forevermore. www.fairy-tale.info

The tortoise was terrified, so he gathered his family together and fled from his house. Together they hurried to the riverbank, where they hid beneath mud and grass and prickly tie-tie palms, and there they have lived ever since, eating only fallen fruits and snails and slugs, millipedes and grass.

@∮ㄉＷＷＷ.faIRｙ－ＴaLｅ．ｉｎFｏめ∠しЩ