You see there was a time when Tortoise's shell was all shiny and smooth. One day Tortoise discovered the birds were having a Feast in the Heavens and he tricked the Birds into making him a pair of wings. Greedy Tortoise raced the birds beyond the clouds and scoffed the whole feast! When the Birds found out Tortoise had to jump off a cloud until - BOOF! He landed on his shiny shell. All the animals pieced Tortoise's shell back together but from that day on Tortoise's shell was all bumpy and broken and he never moved speedily again. Tales from Africa.