Once upon a time, a turtle was sitting on the top of a rock. He was very dejected and had a sad face. An eagle was flying above and he saw the sad turtle below. The eagle was a kind soul and so he decided to see what was bothering the turtle. So he swooped down and perched down next to the turtle. He then asked what was bothering him.
The turtle said that he wanted to fly and as he could not, he was feeling sad. The eagle then asked why he wanted to fly and if he was able to give him a good answer, he said he would take the turtle for a ride in the sky. The turtle said that he wanted to fly because he was bored of walking. The eagle shook his head and said that the turtle’s answer was not to his liking. He then told him to try again.
The turtle tried repeatedly for various times and whatever answer he gave, the eagle was not satisfied with it. All the answers which were offered were unsatisfactory because the eagle was expecting something different from the tortoise. This session went on for some time until the turtle finally said that he wanted to fly because he wanted to be free, high up in the sky. After hearing this, the eagle was satisfied and said that he would take him for a ride in the sky. The eagle then held the turtle with his talons and he soared high into the sky.
The turtle was very happy and the eagle too was glad that he was able to make him happy. They flew for quite a while and soon they came across a place where many turtles had gathered. The eagle was flying high when the turtle said that he wanted to call out to his friends and show them how high he was flying in the sky. The eagle grew irritated to hear this and told him that showing off was nothing to be proud about. But the turtle would not listen and was adamant on showing off to his friends. So, the eagle opened his talons and let the turtle fall to the ground.
But even in this, the eagle was considerate and released the turtle in such a way that he would fall with his back to the ground. And that was how he fell. The turtle landed on his hard shell on the ground and soon all the turtles nearby gathered around him. They helped him to his feet and without a word, the turtle left the spot after having learnt his lesson.
Moral - One must not always get ahead of themselves. It often results in something unfortunate.