The Turtle and the Asp
(Martin Simpson, 1994)

"Carry me," said the asp.
But the turtle cocked his eye
And withdrew his wrinkled neck
And whispered, 'Why should I?"
And the serpent asked again,
He said, "Carry me, aged brother.
Across the river must travel
And I have no other way to go."

CHORUS
And the water it is rising
Out across the land.
And the sluices are all closed now
The river they have damned.

The turtle from his shell's depth
Again he asked, "Why?
For if I should show my flesh to you
Then surely I should die."
"But if I should kill you," said the asp,
"Then I myself should perish,
And that would be a foolish end,
I wish my race to flourish."
CHORUS

The turtle then considered
With the steadiness of age,
And with the clarity of experience,
With the wisdom of the sage.
He slowly stuck his neck out
And opened his eyes a crack.
"If you mean me no harm, brother,
Why then, climb upon my back."
CHORUS

He slid into the water,
And he swam against the flood,
And the asp has struck him in the neck
And poisoned his heart's blood.
And the turtle's mind has blurred with pain,
Asking "Why?" as he sank down.
"It is my nature," said the asp
In the moment that he drowned.
CHORUS
\\Simpson took this story from Aesop's Fables

from Sing Out!, Vol 41, #2
Aug-Sept-Oct 1996