THREE TALES OF TURTLE: Ancient Folk Tales from the Far East

Another trio of fables from the collaborators on Three Tales of Monkey (1967, p. 607, J. 221). The first features the talkative turtle who falls from a stick during flight but the Far Eastern variety recovers to outwit a jackal. In the second (from Cambodia), the affection between a monkey and a turtle is discouraged by their respective tribes, even many years later when the monkey invites the turtle to his grandson's wedding. This turtle also falls because she opens her mouth too soon, and she dies thus originating the cracked back. The last, from Ceylon, concerns a lion/turtle quarrel and contest, with the turtle winning a fixed race. The illustrations, lacking the delicacy of the Monkeys, show better at a distance but the wordy telling, satisfactory for self-reading, won't bear up as a read-aloud.