Once upon a time when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta became his minister. The king of Benares was of a slothful disposition, and the Bodhisatta went about considering some means to rouse the king. Now one day the king went to his garden, accompanied by his minister, and while wandering about there he saw a slothful tortoise. Lazy creatures like these, they say, though they are in motion a whole day, move only just an inch or two.

The king on seeing it asked, saying, “Friend, what is its name?”

The Bodhisatta answered, “The creature is called a tortoise, great king; and is so lazy that though it is in motion all day, it only moves just an inch or two.” And addressing it he said, “Ho! Sir Tortoise, you are very slow. Supposing a conflagration arose in the forest, what would you do?” And herewith he spoke the first stanza:

Should a flame sweep through the grove,

Leaving blackened path behind,

How, Sir Waddler, slow to move,

Way of safety couldst thou find?

The tortoise on hearing this repeated the second stanza:

Holes on every side abound,

Chinks there be in every tree,

Here a refuge will be found

Or an end of us ‘twill be.

On hearing this the Bodhisatta gave utterance to two stanzas:

Whoso doth hurry when he ought to rest?

And tarries long when utmost speed is best,

Destroys the slender fabric of his weal,

As withered leaf is crushed beneath the heel.

But they who wait betimes nor haste too soon,

Fulfill their purpose, as her orb the moon.

The king, hearing the words of the Bodhisatta, then onwards was no longer indolent.

The Master, having ended his lesson, identified the Birth: “At that time the slothful Brother was the tortoise, and I myself was the wise councilor.”