The Tortoise That Saved Its Life

A king built a pond for his young children and told his soldiers to introduce fish into it. A tortoise accidentally entered the pond along with the fish. When the princes saw the tortoise, they became afraid and ran away. The king ordered that the tortoise be killed, but the soldiers did not know how to kill it. 

"Let us throw it on the stones in the river," said a soldier, "by which it will die and flow into the river." 

"Throw me directly into the river," the tortoise said, sticking its head out of its shell. "I will die if you do that." 

The soldiers threw it into the river. The tortoise laughed and swam its way home.