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A NICE SPRING DAY, ARTHUR AND CLEMENTINE, TWO YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL TORTOISES, MET BY A POND. THAT VERY SAME AFTERNOON THEY REALISED THEY WERE IN LOVE.

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CLEMENTINE, CHEERFUL AND UNCONCERNED, MADE MANY PLANS FOR THEIR FUTURE LIFE, WHILE THEY WALKED ALONG THE POND BANKS AND FISHED SOMETHING FOR DINNER.

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CLEMENTINE SAID: ‘WE’LL BE VERY HAPPY TOGETHER. WE’LL TRAVEL AND KNOW NEW PLACES AND DIFFERENT TURTLES,

WE’LL DISCOVER NEW FISH, AND OTHER PLANTS AND FLOWERS IN THE BANKSIT’LL BE A WONDERFUL LIFE!, WE CAN EVEN TRAVEL ABROAD

YOU KNOW WHAT?… I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO VENICE…

AND ARTHUR JUST SMILED AND NODDED

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BUT EVERYDAY WAS THE SAME BY THE POND BANK. ARTHUR HAD DECIDED TO TAKE ALL THE DECISIONS HIMSELF SO CLEMENTINE COULD HAVE A REST. AT LUNCH TIME, HE BROUGHT TADPOLES AND SNALES, AND HE ASKED CLEMENTINE: ‘HOW ARE YOU, DARLING? DID YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME?’AND CLEMENTINE SIGHED: I’VE BEEN VERY BORED!’ WAITING FOR YOU ALL DAY LONG!’

BORED!, PROTESTED ARTHUR. ‘YOU SAY YOU ARE BORED? LOOK FOR SOME ENTERTAINTMENT!’ THERE’RE LOTS OF INTERESTING THINGS TO DO IN THIS WORLD. ONLY THE STUPID ONES GET BORED!

CLEMENTINE FELT ASHAMED TO BE STUPID. SHE WISHED SHE DID NOT GET BORED, BUT SHE COULDN’T HELP IT!

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ONE DAY, WHEN ARTHUR CAME BACK, CLEMENTINE TOLD HIM: ‘I’D LOVE TO HAVE A FLUTE. I’D LEARN HOW TO PLAY, I’D INVENT

MELODIES, SO I’D BE ENTERTAINED.BUT ARTHUR DID NOT LIKE THE IDEA: YOU! PLAYING THE FLUTE? YOU

DON’T EVEN KNOW THE SCALES! YOU JUST CAN’T LEARN. YOU ARE NOT GIFTED.

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AND THAT VERY SAME NIGHT, ARTHUR CAME WITH A LOVELY GRAMOPHONE, AND HE TIED IT TO CLEMENTINE’S SHELL, AND HE SAID: ‘THIS WAY YOU WON’T LOSE IT… YOU ARE SO ABSENT- MINDED!

CLEMENTINE THANKED HIM.

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BUT THAT VERY SAME NIGHT, BEFORE SHE WENT TO SLEEP, SHE WONDERED WHY SHE HAD TO CARRY THAT HEAVY GRAMOPHONE INSTEAD OF A LIGHT FLUTE, AND WHETHER IT WAS TRUE THAT SHE WASN’T ABLE TO LEARN THE SCALES AND THAT SHE WAS SO ABSENT MINDED. BUT AFTER THAT, SHE DECIDED, ASHAMED, THAT IT HAD TO BE SO, AS ARTHUR WAS SO INTELLIGENT AND HE WAS RIGHT. SHE SIGHED RESIGNED AND FELL ASLEEP.

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• FOR A FEW DAYS CLEMENTINE LISTENED TO THE GRAMOPHONE. THEN, SHE GOT TIRED. IT WAS ANYWAY, A BEAUTIFUL OBJECT, AND CLEMENTINE SPENT SOME TIME CLEANING AND POLISHING IT. BUT THEN SHE FOUND IT BORING AGAIN.

ONE DAY, AT SUNSET, WHILE THEY LOOKED AT THE STARS BY THE QUIET POND BANK, CLEMENTINE SAID: “YOU KNOW WHAT, ARTHUR? SOMETIMES, I FEEL REALLY TOUCH WHEN I SEE SO BEAUTIFUL AND COLOURFUL FLOWERS, AND I’D LIKE TO HAVE SOME WATERCOLOURS TO PAINT THEM’

‘DON’T BE RIDICULOUS! DO YOU THINK YOU ARE AN ARTIST?’ ‘THAT’S STUPID! HE LAUGHED!

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CLEMENTINE THOUGHT: ‘OH, I’VE BEEN SILLY AGAIN. I HAVE TO BE CAREFULOR ARTHUR IS GOING TO BE FED UP OF SUCH A STUPID WOMAN’ SO SHE

TRIED TO SPEAK AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. ARTHUR IMMEDIATELY REALISED AND SAID: ‘I HAVE A REALLY BORING PARTNER .

SHE NEVER SPEAKS, AND WHEN SHE DOES, SHE JUST TALKS NONSENSE.BUT HE FELT BAD FOR HIS WORDS AND, A FEW DAYS LATER, HE BROUGHT A BIG PARCEL: ‘LOOK, I MET A FRIEND WHO IS A PAINTER AND I BOUGHT HIM THIS PICTURE FOR YOU...I THINK YOU’LL BE GLAD AS YOU SAID YOU WERE INTERESTED IN ART. HERE YOU ARE. TIE IT UP FIRMLY, OR YOU’LL LOSE IT.

YOU ARE SO ABSENT-MINDED!’

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• THE BIG BURDEN WAS BECOMING BIGGER LITTLE BY LITTLE. ONE DAY A MURANO CRYSTAL VASE WAS ADDED: ‘YOU SAID YOU LIKED VENICE!’ HERE YOU ARE. TIE IT UP FIRMLY, OR YOU’LL LOSE IT.

• YOU ARE SO ABSENT-MINDED!’

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ANOTHER DAY HE CAME WITH A COLLECTION OF AUSTRIAN SMOKING PIPES IN A GLASS CABINET.

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THEN, A ENCYCLOPAEDIA,THAT MADE CLEMENTINE SIGHED: ‘IF ONLY SHE COULD READ!’

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THEN IT WAS THE TIME TO ADD ANOTHER FLOOR TO CLEMENTINE’S HOUSE.

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CLEMENTINE, FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO MOVE WITH A TWO STOREY HOUSE ON HER BACK. ARTHUR GAVE HER THE FOOD, THAT MADE HIM FEEL IMPORTANT : ‘WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT ME?

‘OF COURSE’,CLEMENTINE SIGHED. ‘WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU?’

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LITTLE BY LITTLE THE TWO-STOREY HOUSE WAS COMPLETELY FULL. BUT THERE WAS A SOLUTION: THREE MORE FLOORS WERE ADDED TO CLEMENTINE’S HOUSE!

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CLEMENTINE’S HOUSE WAS NOW A SKYSCRAPER,AND ONE SPRING MORNING SHE DECIDED…

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… SHE COULDN’T GO ON LIKE THAT ANY MORE. SHE STEALTHY CAME OUT OF THE SHELL AND WENT FOR A WALK: IT WAS WONDERFUL BUT VERY SHORT. ARTHUR WAS COMING BACK FOR LUNCH AND SHE SHOULD BE THERE, WAITING FOR HIM. AS ALWAYS.

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LITTLE BY LITTLE, THE WALK BECAME A HABIT AND CLEMENTINE FELT HAPPIER WITH HER NEW LIFE. ARTHUR DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING, BUT HE

SUSPECTED SOMETHING HAPPENED: ‘WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT?YOU LOOK STUPID!’ HE SAID

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BUT CLEMENTINE, WASN’T WORRIED THIS TIME, SHE WASN’T WORRIED AT ALL. ONCE ARTHUR LEFT SHE CAME OUT OF THE HOUSE. HE FOUND HERCHANGED, AND THE HOUSE WASVERY UNTIDY, BUT CLEMENTINE WASREALLY HAPPY AND SHE DIDN’TCARE ABOUT ARTHUR’S COMPLAINS

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ONE DAY ARTHUR FOUND THE HOUSE EMPTY

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HE WAS VERY ANGRY, AND DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. YEARS AFTER, HE STILL TOLD HIS FRIENDS: ‘SHE WAS REALLY UNGRATEFUL THAT CLEMENTINE, SHE HAD EVERYTHING SHE COULD WISH. A TWENTY-FIVE FLOOR HOUSE SHE HAD! ALL FULL OF TREASURES!’

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TORTOISES LIVE MANY YEARS, AND IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CLEMENTINE IS STILL TRAVELLING HAPPYLY THE WORLD. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SHE PLAYS THE FLUTE AND PAINTS BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS AND PLANTS WITH WATERCOLOURS.

IF YOU HAPPEN TO MEET A HOUSELESS TORTOISE, TRY TO CALL HER‘CLEMENTINE, CLEMENTINE!’ AND IS SHE ANSWERS, THAT’S HER.