Jeetu, the young Oraon, whistled merrily as he hurried through the forest path to the river bank. He was on his way to his father-in- law’s house in the hamlet across the river. His wife Karmi and his young son had gone ahead of him to attend the naming ceremony of his brother-in law’s baby. While walking along the banks, Jeetu’s eyes fell upon a giant, fleshy turtle, inching slowly from one bush to another. “Yumm… he looks delicious”, thought Jeetu and pounced on the turtle. He lifted it with great effort. But the catch was certainly worth the sweat. “Now that I’ve a gift to take along, I needn’t feel bad if I have to stay there for a while”, he said to himself. He reached the river that marked the end of the Oraon village area to which he belonged. The area was surrounded by the beautiful woods of the Sarna. Jeetu paid his respects to Sarna Burhia, the village deity before proceeding further.
When he saw the river, Jeetu’s heart sank. It swelled and swirled, washing the banks with its white foams. The river was in spate! “I wonder how I’ll reach the other bank today”, he wondered. The river did not have great depth even in the middle so everybody crossed it on foot. Hence there was no ferry around. As he stood thinking, an idea struck him. He looked at the turtle in his hand and the turtle stared back scornfully. Jeetu spoke to the turtle in a mock friendly voice. “Hey chum, would you mind taking me to the other bank? The river is flooded and I can’t cross it on my own”.
The turtle thought that the man was mocking him. “How quickly men change colours! They’re most unreliable! But maybe here’s an opportunity for me to escape from this fellow! Let me see if I can outwit him”, he thought. “All right pal, but I want you to promise me something in return”, said the turtle. “You should set me free when we reach the other side of the river”, said the turtle as it watched Jeetu’s reactions closely.
With no other means to cross the flooded river, Jeetu agreed to the condition. “What do you think I’ll want to do with a poor creature like you?” asked Jeetu, pretending as if he was not disappointed. “As soon as we reach the other bank, you can go your way and I’ll go mine”.
