There once lived a mighty Lion King in the jungle. On a scorching day, the lion roamed far and wide in search of prey, but finding nothing, decided to rest under the shade of a large tree.

As the lion slept, a Turtle wandered out from the undergrowth. The crackling noise of the rustling leaves woke the Lion. Annoyed at being disturbed, the lion leapt toward the turtle.

When questioned as to why he disturbed the Lion, the frightened Turtle said “O Lord who will become a thousand Buddhas, I did not mean to cause alarm” and explained that he was in search of food. But the Lion, still angry, decided to attack. Before he could do so, the Turtle quickly retreated into its shell, becoming as hard as a stone. The Lion clawed, bit, and rolled the shell around, but to no avail. Frustrated, the lion eventually gave up.

When the Turtle cautiously emerged again, the Lion mocked him, questioning what such a slow creature could possibly do. The Turtle calmly replied that each being had its own strengths and confidently asserted his strengths in water were equal to one, not even the Lion. The Lion laughed at the claim and challenged the Turtle to prove its words by racing him in the river.

Afraid of the Lion’s anger, the Turtle agreed to the competition. Before entering the water, he met yet another Turtle and shared the sticky situation he found himself in. The second Turtle agreed to help out the first turtle and came up with a clever plan. Both placed a red flower in their mouths. The first Turtle would dive into the river near the Lion, while the second would hide on the opposite bank.

When the Lion started swimming, the Turtle hidden on the far side surfaced before him, saying “Kūrmarsha,” with the red flower in its mouth, and climbed onto the bank. Thinking it was the same Turtle, the Lion plunged back into the water and swam toward the starting side in an attempt to outrun the turtle. But again, the first Turtle rose to the bank, said “Kūrmarsha,” and landed before the lion.

This continued several times, and the Lion swam back and forth, only to find the Turtle always mounded the bank before him. Finally, exhausted and unable to continue, the Lion’s strength gave out. He sank in the middle of the river and drowned.

In another version of the tale, told in the North-western Province, the Lion meets the Turtle while drinking from a river. He mocks the Turtle’s speed and challenges it to a race along the riverbank. The Turtle accepts and secretly positions several of its turtle friends along the route. Each time the Lion called out for his “friend,” another Turtle answered from ahead, making him believe he was being outpaced. Furious and humiliated, the Lion leaps ahead recklessly and breaks his neck before reaching the end.

Thus, wit and patience lead to the Turtles’ triumph.

Sourced from Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, Volume 1, Henry Parker, Project Gutenberg, 2018

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