Why Tortoise Has a Cracked Shell

Once upon a time, all the birds had a great party to celebrate in heaven. Tortoise wanted to go to the party, too, as he knew there was going to be plenty to eat and drink, and he loved food. However, he had no wings and couldn’t go to the party. So he decided to appeal to all the birds to give him a feather each so that he would get the required amount of wings to fly to the party. At first, some of the birds were reluctant to give the Tortoise their feathers because he had a reputation for being a greedy and cunning animal, but in the end, they decided to help him out.

On the day of the party, as they flew to the venue of the event, Tortoise told the other birds, “I think we should all have names to identify ourselves at this party. I have already chosen my own name; I will be called “All of you”. The birds did not suspect a trick, and they agreed to Tortoise’s plan.

At the party, the hosts served the birds plenty of food and drink, but every time they brought a particular delicacy, the birds would ask who it was for. The hosts would say “All of You”. Since the Tortoise had chosen that name, the birds had no option but to give all the food to Tortoise, who ate everything greedily and left only remnants for the birds to peck at. That made the birds very angry, and each of them collected their feathers back from Tortoise, leaving him completely full of food and drink and with no way to return home. However, he begged the birds to allow one of them to fly to his house and tell his wife to bring out all the soft items in his house and arrange them to cushion his fall if he jumps down from heaven. Initially, every one of them refused, but the Eagle, who was angrier than the rest, thought he should teach the Tortoise a lesson. He agreed to fly to the Tortoise’s house and deliver his message. However, when the Eagle got to the Tortoise’s house, he told  Tortoise’s wife to bring out all the hard items like the mortar and pestle, Tortoise’s cannon and all the hard things in the house.

Tortoise peered out of heaven, but it was too far to see what his wife was bringing out. But he jumped all the same and fell all the way from heaven and landed with a bang. Unfortunately, he hit one of the hard objects his wife had brought out, and his shell broke into many pieces. In a panic, his wife ran to call the best doctor in the town, the Shrew. However, as  Shrew started to rearrange his shell,  Tortoise kept complaining about Shrew’s terrible odour, so  Shrew got angry and left the job half done.

Then his wife called in another good doctor, the Mosquito; again, the Tortoise kept complaining about his buzzing, so he left in anger as well.

So his wife called Cat, who wasn’t as good as a doctor. It was Cat who finally repaired Tortoise’s shell, but he did not do it very well, and Tortoise’s shell became rough and cracked.

It has remained so to this day.
In a business context, greed is characterized as an insatiable desire for material gain, wealth, or power, often to the detriment of others. This is often viewed as unethical and leads to actions that prioritize short-term profits over long-term sustainability, customer satisfaction, employee well-being, or societal impact. Ways to overcome greed in business include focusing on long-term goals, promoting ethical leadership, being transparent and accountable, prioritizing stakeholder interests, and promoting a culture of positive values.