Long ago there was a king who had a magic drum. Whenever he beat the drum, a big feast appeared. The king invited everyone to the feasts - even his enemies. There were never any wars and everyone was happy.
The magic drum had a secret. The king was the only one who knew it. If the drum's owner ever stepped on a fallen branch, the magic power of the drum would be lost.
Turtle was a bit jealous of the king. He was tired of working so hard collecting palm nuts for his family to eat.
One day when Turtle was picking nuts, one fell to the ground. A woman walked by, picked up the nut and ate it. That woman was the king's wife.
"You ate my palm nut!" cried Turtle. "You are a thief and I'm going to report you to the king."
"Sorry," said the queen. "I didn't know that nut was yours."
Turtle and the queen went to the palace and told the king what happened. The king, a very kind man, said, "Turtle, I will make it up to you. You can take anything you want from the palace."
Turtle looked around and went straight for the drum. The king was a man of his word and let Turtle take it. But he didn't tell him about the drum's secret.
"We're rich!" cried Turtle to his family. He beat the drum and a huge feast of food appeared. They ate and ate and Turtle grew very fat and lazy. When he wasn't eating, he walked around the village and bragged about how rich he was.
One day as he was walking home, Turtle tripped on a fallen branch. He would soon find out that his magic drum had lost its magic.
Turtle came home tired and hungry. He beat his drum, but this time there was no food. Instead, his house filled up with enemies ready to attack.
Turtle gathered his family and raced to the riverbank. There they hid, and there they have lived ever since, eating only snails and slugs and fallen palm nuts.
Source: wordville.com/ReadingComp/TurtleDrum.html Turtle and the Magic Drum
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