One day the tortoise met the elephant, who trumpeted, “Out of my way, you weakling—I might step on you!” The tortoise was not afraid and stayed where he was, so the elephant stepped on him, but could not crush him. “Do not boast, Mr Elephant, I am as strong as you are!” said the tortoise, but the elephant just laughed. So the tortoise asked him to come to his hill the next morning.
The next day, before sunrise, the tortoise ran down the hill to the river, where he met the hippopotamus, who was just on his way back into the water after his nocturnal feeding. “Mr Hippo! Shall we have a tug-of-war? I bet I’m as strong as you are!” said the tortoise. The hippopotamus laughed at this ridiculous idea but agreed.
The tortoise produced a long rope and told the hippo to hold it in his mouth until the tortoise shouted “Hey!” Then the tortoise ran back up the hill where he found the elephant, who was getting impatient. He gave the elephant the other end of the rope and said, “When I say ‘Hey!’ pull, and you’ll see which of us is the strongest. ”Then he ran halfway back down the hill, to a place where he couldn’t be seen, and shouted, “Hey!” The elephant and the hippopotamus pulled and pulled, but neither could budge the other-they were of equal strength. They both agreed that the tortoise was as strong as they were. Never do what others can do for you. The tortoise let others do the work for him while he got the credit.
Zairean Fable	Tortoise
Before the evolution of the modern man when the snail had no shell, back then the snail used to be one of the fastest small mammals in the forest. The snail had an impressive average top speed of 14 kph exceeding the average speed of the rat by 1 kph. The snail with his speed and mobility could travel any length to get the best of the animal food in the forest which includes vegetables, seeds, nuts, small animals or insects.
Although the snail had a major advantage compared to other small animals, still it faced many dangers from numerous predators namely dogs, wolves, snakes and birds of prey such as hawks and falcons. The snail sought to protect itself from its predators as much as possible approached mother nature to grant the request of a protective shell covering and also its present body adapted to its new covering.
The snail’s petition was granted. The snail got a shell as a protective cover against its predators. After some time the snail became depressed because he had lost his mobility and speed as a result of the heavy shell covering on its back. The snail could no longer move swiftly to obtain and eat the best of the animal food, he resorted to eating plants and vegetables in its nearness. As if things would not get any better for the snail, the snail got evicted from the annual Small Animals Athletics Championship (SMAC) because the snail now possessed a top speed of 0.003 miles per hour labeled as the slowest animal in the world.
Moral Lesson
Attack is the secret of defence; defence is the planning of an attack – Sun Tzu
Written by: Olayiwola Akinnagbe
AntiqueFables, Olayiwola Akinnagbe	shell, snail
Posted on July 5, 2018 by The Professor
Once upon a time in the animal kingdom, during the rainy season, the animals had an immense problem with flooding. Torrential rainfalls would inundate their farmlands and houses resulting in massive destruction of their crops and properties.
A community meeting was held to solve the flood menace, there the hawk argued that since water was the cause of their problem, they had to arrest water and lock him up in a dam. All the animals agreed to do as the hawk proposed and they thanked him for his brilliant idea. They built a dam and made water flow into it, unfortunately, rain would fall and the dam will collapse giving way for water to overflow causing intense flooding.
The animals would dam water all over again, the sun would shine and heat up water and it would vanish into thin air only to come down as rainfall flooding their farmlands and houses like ever before.
Although the animals possessed great numbers and strength complemented with high-level intelligence, they couldn’t defeat a less formidable opponent in form of water because of its formless nature.
Formlessness is in the eye of the enemy who cannot see what they are up to and so has nothing solid to attack.
AntiqueFables, Olayiwola Akinnagbe	formless nature, god Mercury, Mount Olympus, water
THE WASP AND THE PRINCE
A wasp named Pin Tail was long in quest of some deed that would make him forever famous. So one day he entered the king’s palace and stung the little prince, who was in bed. The prince awoke with loud cries. The king and his courtiers rushed in to see what had happened. The prince was yelling as the wasp stung him again and again. The courtiers tried to catch the wasp, and each, in turn, was stung. The whole royal household rushed in, the news soon spread, and people flocked to the palace. The city was in an uproar, all business suspended. Said the wasp to itself, before it expired from its efforts, “A name without fame is like fire without flame. There is nothing like attracting notice at any cost.”
A name without fame is like fire without flame