Jataka Tales, Ellen C. Babbit, , at sacred-texts.com A KING once
had a lake made in the courtyard for the young princes to play
in. They swam about in it, and sailed their boats and rafts on
it. One day the king told them he had asked the men to put some
fishes into the lake. Off the boys ran to see the fishes. Now,
along with the fishes, there was a Turtle. The boys were
delighted with the fishes, but they had never seen a Turtle, and
they were afraid of it, thinking it was a demon. They ran back
to their father, crying, "There is a demon on the bank of the
lake." The king ordered his men to catch the demon, and to bring
it to the palace. When the Turtle was brought in, the boys cried
and ran away. The king was very fond of his sons, so he ordered
the men who had brought the Turtle to kill it. "How shall we
kill it?" they asked. "Pound it to powder," said some one. "Bake
it in hot coals," said another. So one plan after another was
spoken of. Then an old man who had always been afraid of the
water said: "Thr