The Tortoise and the Eagle
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Aesop's Fables
A tortoise had spent his whole life on the ground and had grown tired of it.
He watched the birds all day. They went wherever they liked, saw everything, and were never more than a few seconds from anywhere. He was three hours from the far side of the field.
So when an eagle landed nearby, he asked.
Teach me to fly
"Teach me to fly."
The eagle looked at him for a while.
"You have no wings."
"I have watched birds my whole life. I understand the principle. I only need to be shown once."
"You have no wings," the eagle said again, "and you have a shell. Those are not small problems."
"I will pay you," said the tortoise. "Everything I have. Just take me up and let me try."
The eagle told him it was a bad idea. She told him more than once. But he kept asking, day after day, and in the end she grew tired of refusing.
Up
She took him in her claws and carried him up, higher and higher, past the trees and the hill and up into the cold air where the fields below turned into small brown squares.
"Are you certain?"
"Let go," said the tortoise.
So she let go.
And for the first two seconds it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him. He was flying. Everybody was wrong and he had been right all along.
Then he began to notice that the ground was arriving.
Moral of the story
Wanting something badly enough does not make you able to do it. Take advice from the one person in the conversation who has actually done the thing.
Questions and answers
- Why did the tortoise want to fly?
He was tired of the ground and envied the birds, who could go anywhere quickly and see everything.
- What did the eagle tell him?
That he had no wings and a heavy shell, and that flying was not possible for him.
- Why did the eagle eventually agree?
The tortoise asked repeatedly, day after day, until she grew tired of refusing.
- What did the tortoise experience at first?
For the first couple of seconds he was delighted and believed he had been right all along.
- What is the lesson about advice?
The eagle was the only one in the conversation who knew what flying involved, and she warned him clearly. He ignored the one person qualified to tell him.
Word meanings
- principle
- The basic idea or rule behind how something works.
- claws
- The sharp curved nails on a bird or animal's feet.
- certain
- Completely sure.
- envied
- Wanted what someone else had.
Questions about The Tortoise and the Eagle
What is the moral of The Tortoise and the Eagle?
The moral is that ambition without ability is dangerous, and that ignoring expert advice because you want a different answer rarely ends well.
Is the ending shown?
No. The fable ends the moment the tortoise notices the ground, which leaves the rest to the reader.
Is the eagle to blame?
This is the best discussion the fable offers. She warned him repeatedly and he insisted. Children usually split on whether she should have refused anyway.
What age is this suitable for?
Ages seven and above. The ending is implied rather than described, but younger children may find it upsetting.