有一隻老烏龜，在池塘邊住了一輩子。每天的日子大同小異：慢吞吞地爬、慢吞吞地吃草、慢吞吞地曬太陽。
日子久了，烏龜開始不耐煩。她抬頭看著天上的老鷹，心裡他想：「要是我也能飛就好了。天空那麼大，遠方那麼美，我卻只能困在這個小池塘，真是委屈我這個聰明人了！」
這天，老鷹剛好飛下來休息，烏龜趕緊爬過去，開口說：「老鷹大哥，你天天在天上飛，看得那麼遠，一定很快活吧？可憐可憐我，教我怎麼飛，好不好？」
老鷹笑了：「烏龜啊，你有厚殼護身，我有翅膀飛天，這是老天的安排。你沒有翅膀，怎麼飛得起來呢？還是乖乖在地上過日子吧。」
可是烏龜不死心，天天哀求，什麼好話都說盡了。老鷹被磨得沒辦法，只好說：「好吧好吧，我帶你上去看看，但只是一小下。」
老鷹伸出利爪，抓起烏龜，翅膀一拍，「呼」地一聲衝上雲霄。烏龜嚇得閉上眼睛，心裡卻樂開了花：「我飛起來了！我也是天上的烏龜了！」
風從耳邊呼呼吹過，大地變得好小，池塘像一面小鏡子。烏龜得意洋洋，忍不住大叫：「看啊！連老鷹都要聽我的話！我什麼都會，什麼都行！」
老鷹聽到這話，心裡很不舒服：「帶你上天是幫你，你倒得意起來了，還覺得我是被你使喚的？」他一鬆爪，烏龜就直直地往下掉。
「救命啊——！」
砰！
烏龜重重摔在石頭上，厚殼四分五裂，再也爬不起來了。
這個故事告訴我們，每個人都有自己擅長的地方，不要硬去羨慕別人的本事。老鷹會飛是因為牠就是老鷹，烏龜會游泳、會把頭縮起來，那才是牠的能力。放著自己的優點不用，硬要去學一個根本不適合你的東西，只會害死自己。
A TORTOISE, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly. An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation and demanded what reward she would give him if he would take her aloft and float her in the air. "I will give you," she said, "all the riches of the Red Sea." "I will teach you to fly then," said the Eagle; and taking her up in his talons he carried her almost to the clouds suddenly he let her go, and she fell on a lofty mountain, dashing her shell to pieces. The Tortoise exclaimed in the moment of death: "I have deserved my present fate; for what had I to do with wings and clouds, who can with difficulty move about on the earth?"
If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.
常用字 - 寫法、筆順
