Gift of the Tortoise

Today, we have a story - part fable, part mythical retelling. 

Gift of the Tortoise

After calming vying traders in a local village marketplace, Hermes visited the countryside. There, the Olympian god heard a distant whistle that warmed his heart. 

The whistling came from a grove of trees. A boy was feeding an old tortoise some leaves and stems there. The tortoise peaked its head out from the brush.

“You are hungry for an old one,” the boy, Orpheus, said to the tortoise. “I saw berries around the bend. I’ll bring them back to you. Don’t leave. I’ll be right back.” Orpheus scampered away.

Hermes could tell the young boy was lonely, and the tortoise was a welcome friend. The boy's peers thought him odd and they could be cruel. Sensitive and gifted, the boy had not yet grown into his potential. Hermes Kourotrophos could help young Orpheus.

Hermes understood that the old tortoise’s moments were numbered. He granted the tortoise the gift of speech and the ability to see him.

“Astounding,” the tortoise said. “I’ve never seen one such as you in all my 150 years of living.”

“Tell me, old tortoise, what do you think of the boy that fed you?” Hermes asked.

“I welcome his kindness. Today, he also righted me after other youngsters flipped me on my back,” the tortoise said. “Though I am old and was helpless, the boy helped me. He is a good boy.”

“I agree,” Hermes said. “Refreshing to see one so kind.”

“I’d like to give the boy a gift, but I have none to offer.”

“I may arrange that. You aren’t long for this world, after all.”

“True, I know. I’m grateful for the length I’ve lived.” The tortoise nodded and retracted into its shell. Soon, the shell shook slightly, and the tortoise breathed his last.

Hermes heard the boy whistling on his way back. The god disguised himself in human form as an old trader wearing a long, billowing cloak.

The boy rounded the bend and hurried to the tortoise, hands cupped full of berries. “Old tortoise, I brought these for -.” 

The boy stopped. He dropped to his knees, the berries falling in front of the unmoving tortoise. He gingerly touched the shell. “Tortoise?”

“Your friend is gone, dear boy,” the disguised Hermes explained gently.

The boy looked up. “What happened?”

“His time had come.”

The boy sniffed and shed a tear. “Poor old tortoise.”

“Don’t fret. He wanted you to have something. But first, I want you to dig a hole to bury your friend properly. You’ll find a mound of dirt at the base of the tree over there.” Hermes pointed to a far off tree. “The softer dirt is on the farther side of it.”

The boy nodded and complied, walking purposely with a somber face toward the tree.

Hermes swiftly harvested the soft tortoise body from its shell. He retrieved some dried sheep guts he'd brought from the marketplace. He fashioned strings from those, and secured them on the underside of the tortoise shell.

“The hole is ready,” the boy called. 

Hermes covered the soft body in large leaves. He walked over to the boy at the tree, concealing the shelled instrument beneath his cloak. He placed the covered body into the hole and motioned for the boy to fill the hole with the dirt.

Orpheus pushed the dirt over the body, tamping the earth down by the heels. He then stood up and nodded to Hermes. The boy lifted his arms up high and gave a brief prayer to Hermes’ father, Zeus, on the tortoise’s behalf.

“Well done,” Hermes said. “And this is your gift from the tortoise.” Hermes brandished the shelled instrument aloft before handing it to the boy.

“His shell?” The boy accepted it, holding the instrument carefully. He then plucked a string. “He makes music now. Wow!”

“Yes. You may keep him close to you for many seasons. That is his gift to you.”

“What do I call it?”

“The chelys,” Hermes said. “Use the chelys and your songs to spread kindness for the good of all.”

“Oh, I will, thank you.” The boy looked up. “And thank you, tortoise,” he shouted skyward. He then strolled away along the path toward home. His busy fingers strummed the strings, and his sweet voice sang of the tortoise’s gift.

And that is how the chelys came to be.