King Carlyle and Jacob the Frog, after much searching, finally found the wise old turtle. He lived in a cave at the bottom of the river. (He was one of those aquatic turtles that live in the water.)
“I understand,” said King Carlyle, “That you have some information about where the Queen of the Water Sprites is being kept.”
“Have you come to rescue her?” asked the wise old turtle.
“We have,” answered King Carlyle.
“Then you should know,” said the wise old turtle, “that the path is extremely dangerous, and many have perished attempting it.”
“We are prepared,” said King Carlyle.
“You must find the whirlpool. It will take you down to the hidden chamber. There you will find the queen of the Water Sprites.”
“Where is the whirlpool?” asked King Carlyle.
“Ah, that is what you must find,” said the Wise Old Turtle.
“Do you know where it is?” asked King Carlyle.
“I have spoken as much as I intend to,” said the Wise Old Turtle. “You must go now and find what you can.”
“So you do know?” King Carlyle insisted.
“We should go,” said Jacob the Frog. “I don’t think he’s going to tell us anything more.”
“No, wait,” said King Carlyle. “I’ve dealt with these mystical types before. You don’t get to be king without dealing with at least a few of these mysterious fortune teller types. It’s part of the job description. I’ve learned to always make them give you a straight answer.”
“I warn you,” said the Wise Old Turtle. “Do not take advantage of my patience. I have already told you all that I intend to tell you.”
“Fine, fine,” said King Carlyle. “But just to be clear, you do know where the whirlpool is, you are just choosing not to reveal the information.”
“I have already told--” the Wise Old Turtle began.
“Yes, yes,” said King Carlyle. “I know. I’m not asking you to tell us where the whirlpool is. I’m just confirming that you know where it is. Just tell me that you know where it is, but that you are not going to tell me, and I’ll leave you alone.”
“Very well,” said the Wise Old Turtle. “I do know where it is.”
“And you’re not going to tell us?” King Carlyle asked.
The Wise Old Turtle sighed in irritation.
“I’m just trying to confirm,” said King Carlyle. “You’re not going to tell us, right?”
“It is not my way to tell everything,” said the Wise Old Turtle.
“Okay, fine. That’s fine. I just want to know why you’re not going to tell us. Is it for our own good so that we can go on a journey of self-discovery? Or is it because you need to maintain an air of mystery?”
“It is simply that it is not my way.”
“Yes, yes, I know. And I promise that I’ll leave you alone. I will leave you alone. I just want clarification on why you’re not going to tell us.”
“That is not our way,” said the turtle in an exasperated voice.
“Because you could tell us, and we would never let anyone know that it was you. We would pretend we located it all on our own. You could keep your air of mystery, and we could pretend we were smarter than we were. It would be win-win all around.”
“The reason is,” said the turtle at last, in a very annoyed voice, “is that if you seek to go on a hero's quest, you have to find this kind of stuff yourself. It’s no good me telling you everything. You have to do the work of finding stuff out yourself.”
“Okay, great, now we are understanding each other,” said King Carlyle. “And I would not argue with you if we were on such a journey. But it is not for our own benefit that we venture forth, but to help the Water Sprites and for the sake of their queen. After all, it is not an inanimate object that we seek-- we are not recovering a lost treasure, or seeking a magic sword, for example. We are seeking to rescue a Queen, and so for the sake of the Queen, not for our own sake, it would be better if you told us where she is--”
“Fine!” snapped the turtle. “Fine. I agree. The whirlpool you seek is located behind a sunken log about one mile north of here. You will know the area because the log is covered with moss and vines, even though it is underwater. There’s a fierce salmon who guards the whirlpool, and he will try to stop you if you arrive.”
“Thank you very much,” said King Carlyle. Then he said to Jacob, “See, this questing thing isn’t so difficult after all. We should have the queen rescued in a couple of days.”
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