Then the animals said , ` Who can we trust to mount guard now ? ' And the panther answered , ` Let it be the tortoise . ' The following morning the animals all went their various ways , leaving the tortoise to guard the spring . When they were out of sight the jackal came back . ` Good morning , tortoise ; good morning . ' But the tortoise took no notice . ` Good morning , tortoise ; good morning . ' But still the tortoise pretended not to hear . Then the jackal said to himself , ` Well , to-day I have only got to manage a bigger idiot than before . I shall just kick him on one side , and then go and have a drink . ' So he went up to the tortoise and said to him in a soft voice , ` Tortoise ! tortoise ! ' but the tortoise took no notice . Then the jackal kicked him out of the way , and went to the well and began to drink , but scarcely had he touched the water , than the tortoise seized him by the leg . The jackal shrieked out : ` Oh , you will break my leg ! ' but the tortoise only held on the tighter . The jackal then took his bag and tried to make the tortoise smell the honeycomb he had inside ; but the tortoise turned away his head and smelt nothing . At last the jackal said to the tortoise , ' I should like to give you my bag and everything in it , ' but the only answer the tortoise made was to grasp the jackal 's leg tighter still . So matters stood when the other animals came back . The moment he saw them , the jackal gave a violent tug , and managed to free his leg , and then took to his heels as fast as he could .
And the animals all said to the tortoise : ` Well done , tortoise , you have proved your courage ; now we can drink from our well in peace , as you have got the better of that thieving XXXXX ! '
everything guard head heels honeycomb jackal panther sight spring ways