The Story Of The Foolish Tortoise

Northeast Wall of the Staircase
Candi Mendut

In this Tantri tale from the northeast wall of the staircase, a foolish tortoise is chased by hunters, suspends himself by his jaws from a stick, and convinces two geese to carry him to safety. But the silly turtle can not stop himself from opening his mouth to boast of his cleverness, which of course causes him to lose his grip on the stick, and so he falls down to his death on the rocks below. Compare: the same story on Temple 2, Nalanda, India.