Kulu the tortoise and the feast in the sky

In the days when animals still spoke to one another, the sky announced a great feast. All the birds of the land were invited, but Kulu the tortoise — greedy and cunning — had no wings to climb up there. She went to the birds: 'My friends, each lend me one feather, so I may feast with you.' Kind-hearted, they agreed, and Kulu made herself a pair of wings.

On the way she suggested: 'Since we are going to a foreign land, let each of us take a new name, as custom demands.' For herself she chose the name 'All-of-you'. When they reached the sky, the hosts set down the dishes and declared: 'This feast is for all of you.' At once Kulu cried: 'Did you hear? It is for me!' and she ate the finest morsels while the hungry birds looked on.

Furious, one by one they took back their feathers before flying home. Kulu was left bare at the edge of the sky, with no wings to return. She begged the partridge to tell her wife to spread everything soft in front of the house, to cushion her fall. But the spiteful partridge told the wife to bring out the hoes, the stones and the machetes. Kulu jumped… and landed on the hard things. Her shell shattered into a thousand pieces.

Her wife patiently glued it back together, piece by piece. And that is why, to this day, the tortoise's shell is covered with seams.