title: Jabut&iexcl; the Tortoise: A Trickster Tale from the Amazon
author:  Gerald McDermott 
description: Another installment in Gerald McDermott's wise and whimsical trickster series, <I>Jabut&iacute; the Tortoise</I> tells the tale of the Amazon jungle's shiny-shelled mischief-maker. Although Jabut&iacute; doesn't come across as the most clever trickster around in this particular retelling (he's duped by that crabby old Vulture and ends up getting bailed out by the King of Heaven), the colorful pipe-player and his songs are clearly well loved. Well, by everybody but his victims, that is: "Jaguar could remember when Jabut&iacute; tricked him into chasing his own tail," and "Tapir could remember when Jabut&iacute; tricked him into a tug-of-war with Whale." But we do get to learn how Tortoise's shell became cracked, and why Toucan, Macaw, and Hummingbird boast such brilliant colors.
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  # Table of contents
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Prologue: The Search](xhtml/prologue.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter One: Helping Others](xhtml/c01.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Two: Spirit Tortoise Familiar (Human Type)](xhtml/c02_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Three: The Spirit Tortoise Reawakens](xhtml/c03.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Four: Spirit Tortoise Tyrant](xhtml/c04.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Five: Mass Destruction](xhtml/c05.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Six: Versus the Spirit Tortoise, Opening Stages](xhtml/c06_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Seven: Buying Time](xhtml/c07_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Eight: The Search](xhtml/c08.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Nine: The Spirit Tortoise Cave](xhtml/c09.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Ten: Strangers](xhtml/c10_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Eleven: The Heroes’ Inscription](xhtml/c11_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Twelve: The Spirit Tortoise’s Heart](xhtml/c12.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Thirteen: Who Pulls the Strings](xhtml/c13_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Fourteen: Liberation](xhtml/c14.xhtml)
  
  
  * [Chapter Fifteen: The Spirit Tortoise’s Soul](xhtml/c15_1.xhtml)
  
  
  * [E