Long ago, an old magician named Odin visited the animal kingdom. He was the greatest and most powerful magician in all the worlds. He gathered all the animals and told them, "I want to give animals the gift of magic, making you able to become powerful magicians on your own. To gain this magical power, each animal must fetch me a bottle of salt water. However, I will cause the salt river to dry up in fifty minutes, so if you're not fast enough, the river will dry up before you reach it, and you will lose out on this great opportunity. Your time starts now!"

Instantly, all the animals grabbed their bottles and started running towards the salt river. They ran as fast as they could to reach it before the river dried up.

The first animal to reach the salt river was the cheetah. He was fast enough to arrive in twenty minutes. He quickly filled his bottle, returned to the magician, and immediately gained magical power. He began to dance with excitement. The antelope was the second animal to reach the salt river. He was followed by the horse, then the lion, then the hare, then the kangaroo, then the ostrich, then the deer, then the zebra, and so on. They all shouted in jubilation as they gained magical power.

However, the tortoise was a very slow animal. He moved at a snail's pace and was still far from the salt river when it dried up. All the animals began making fun of the tortoise for his slow pace. They laughed at him heartlessly and mocked him for missing out on the great opportunity.

The tortoise covered his face and began to shed tears. He cried and cried until his eyes became red and swollen. As he returned, still crying, he approached the magician. To everyone's great surprise, the tortoise suddenly offered his own bottle of salt water to the magician and automatically gained magical power. Everyone was shocked. They wondered how the tortoise came to have the salt water since the river had already dried up before he arrived.

An animal asked the tortoise curiously, "The salt river has already dried up... how did you obtain the salt water?"

The tortoise smiled and answered, "I may be slow in nature, but I'm blessed with exceptional wisdom. The thing is, shortly after the salt river dried up, I realized that tears are salty, just like salt water. So, I began to cry into my bottle. Everyone thought I was crying out of sadness and disappointment, but I was actually filling my bottle. Truly, wisdom is rare!"

MORAL LESSON: Wisdom is the knowledge that helps us find practical solutions to problems. Be wise. Be smart. Be clever. And be quick-witted. Life can put you in very difficult situations, but if you're wise enough, you can easily find your way out.