> [!kicker] Fable # The Tortoise and the River A tortoise lives at the edge of a shallow puddle. The water is warm and muddy and small, but it has never failed him. One morning he climbs a rock above it, spies a faraway river bright on the horizon, and sets out. But halfway across the plain a waterfall glints on the far hills, and he turns. Halfway to the waterfall, a shimmering lake appears in the distance and he recharts his path again. Then comes a spring and then the sea—each new water pulling him off the path to the last. He becomes weary. His unslaked thirst catches up with him and takes hold, and unable to endure any longer, the tortoise raises his head towards the water one last time.