Once upon a time, there was a big famine and lack of water on the island of Mlata.
The birds decided to leave and go to another country. The turtle – who had always been their friend – begged them to take her with them. The birds are good souls and tell her “yes”. They take a stick which the turtle has to bite on, so the birds could carry the turtle across water and land. The birds conjure the turtle to hold on to the stick at all times and never open her mouth.
So the journey begins …
When they flew across the first village of Mlata, the inhabitants started laughing, pointing at the turtle in the sky: “Have you ever seen a flying turtle?” The turtle got very angry and started shouting insults – thus letting go of the stick, falling down on the rocky ground and bursting into 1000 pieces.
That was her punishment for being so garrulous.