How the Tortoise Got Its Cracked Shell... Not

One of the many unwritten duties of being an aunt is keeping your nephews and nieces entertained/distracted; it doesn’t matter which form it takes as long as it keeps them out of their mum’s hair.  On one of such “aunty duties” I decided to tell my nieces, *Sika and *Fafa a story explaining how the tortoise had a cracked shell.

This popular folklore tells the tale of how the tortoise was doing well in his habitat until he started starving as a result of a famine that plagued his habitat. His friends, the birds on the other hand were able to have their fill by flying off to greener pastures in search for food and back. Subsequently Mr. Tortoise managed to convince them to take him with them on their next trip however there was a little setback - Mr. Tortoise could not fly. The birds therefore hatched a plan; Mr. Tortoise would hang from a stick by the mouth by which each bird would carry one end of the stick with Mr. Tortoise hanging in the middle.

The following day Mr. Tortoise was airborne.  Half way through the journey he looked down and saw a human staring in amazement at the sky upon seeing a flying-tortoise. Mr. Tortoise forgetting himself decided to ‘brag’ by which he fell out of the sky and landed on his shell thereby shattering it to many pieces. “And that is how the tortoise got its cracked shell” I finished my story with a flourish.

Fafa clapped excitedly whilst Sika just gave me a quiet puzzled look. I then followed up by asking whether Sika enjoyed the story or not by which she responded it was nice but did not understand why the birds decided to carry Mr Tortoise. She added it was impossible as the tortoise was very heavy.

Now it was my turn to look stunned. I recovered quickly enough to respond “well of course they could”, I insisted, “they were big birds”. She then followed with “but Auntie Yvonne the birds can’t carry the tortoise for such a long time without getting tired. Besides it was only one tortoise that got its shell cracked; what about all the other tortoises that existed? How did their shell crack and how did future tortoises get their cracked shells?”.  Whilst I was pondering how a simple folklore had suddenly turned into a turn-the-heat-up-on-your-aunt, her mum quickly came to my rescue by telling her she was over analyzing a simple story hence ruining it.

At the time Sika was only 8 years old. Her query got me thinking; this was just a story why did she have to ask all those questions?  Why couldn’t she just accept it just as it was and move on?

I was also told this story as a child but do not remember questioning it; I accepted it as it was. It was only after a couple of biology lessons on Darwin’s theory, genetics and evolution that got me thinking otherwise. Apparently not even my age or being an aunt to Fafa was going to “intimidate” her to give me a pass to spin a tale and get away with it.

This isn’t to say those who believed such folklores didn’t know better; heck I believed it once. But it got me thinking about how society and our culture of accepting things at face value because a so-called “expert” said so could be to our detriment. We live in a society that does not encourage people especially our young ones to think, analyze situations and seek clarification.

This is even worse when it comes to our religious practices. We like to adopt the don’t-try-to-understand-just-believe approach hence we have supposed men of God/pastors preaching very ridiculous messages and doctrines, perpetuating the biggest kind of fraud on people, wreaking havoc on homes but who are you to question? Do you want to challenge “God’s” messenger? But well, Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you”. Maybe this might be coming from a different God.

On daily basis we have people go on radio and on television to spew the most ridiculous things/theories on pertinent issues and yet most people accept such things without questioning because the speaker is a supposed “expert” in the field therefore his/her words must be taken hook, line, sinker. People are being ripped off by Ponzi schemes; business deals that promise 300% returns with many jumping on board without questioning “what’s the catch?”  

Children are naturally inquisitive yet somehow along the line a good number in our society have been denied the opportunity to question unsettling dogmas hence we are increasingly witnessing individuals who on paper are educated yet cannot think for themselves.

In conclusion I had to eat humble pie and tell Sika it was just a story and that all the questions she raised were valid; one cracked shell from a failed supposedly flying experience didn’t explain how all other tortoises had cracked shells but instead genetics and evolution could explain it. While mentally shelving all the other “wonderful” stories I had about how the tiger had its strips, why the giraffe had a long neck and why the rabbit had a short tail because obviously she had outgrown the fairytale/folklore stage.

If it does not make sense by all means seek clarification, what’s the worst that could happen?

NB: *Names have been changed to protect the identity of minors.