Scene IV—Home of the Sea Queen

[Turtle comes in looking very sad.]

Queen Osa. My dear Turtle, where have you been so long, and oh, what has happened to you?

Turtle. Dear Queen, I am very sad, and very cold, and very ill. My 130poor body is without its covering, for see, I have lost my shell.

Queen Osa. Poor Turtle! Come tell me all about it.

Turtle. The monkey told me he had left his heart at home and he asked me to take him back so he could get it. I believed him. You know I wanted the heart for you.

Queen Osa. You are very kind, Turtle.

Turtle. I took him on my back. When we got to the land he sprang off my back and up the nearest tree. He told his brothers what had happened to him. Then they all rushed at me. They tore off my shell and threw my body back into the sea without it.

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Queen Osa. Poor Turtle! Never mind. I’ll give you another shell, for you did your best. Some one must have been telling the monkey tales. Jellyfish, you were his friend. Do you know anything about this?

Jellyfish. I told the monkey that we were going to kill him so that we could get his heart for you. I told him to try and be brave about it.

Queen Osa. You are to blame, then, Jellyfish, for all this trouble. To punish you for meddling, I will take away your shell. And you must go without it forever.

—Oriental Fable.

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