Walter the Wayward Turtle

	You should understand something about turtles.  They are
deliberate individuals.  They have to be.  It takes them a long time
to get from one place to another, and as such, they do their best to
be sure of their actions before they take any action.
	Walter was something of a rebel among his fellow turtles.
Sometimes his actions almost went into the realm of being rash.  His
acquaintances usually spent a lot of time making decisions, except in
the case of deciding whether to eat or not or deciding whether to
sleep or not.  When the decisions were of a more serious nature, such
as deciding to find out what's on the other side of a clump of bushes,
most of them spent a good deal of time pondering the matter.  They
usually consulted their fellows on the matter, and the conversations
would often go something like this.
	"I was just thinking," said Fred. 
	"About what?" asked Joe, after about a minute had passed,
which is the norm in turtle conversations.  They are invariably polite
and careful not to speak when another is speaking, or getting ready to
speak, because when they are not polite, their fellow turtles will
refuse to deliberate with them any more.
	"About what might be on the other side of those bushes."
	"Well, that's an interesting thing to think about."  Joe was
quiet for a good while, but Fred was sure he had more to say.  "There
could be a plant with some nice green leaves, or maybe a puddle
to take a bath in.  I haven't had a nice bath in a long time."
	"Those sound like good things," said Fred.  "I was hoping to
find a shady spot to stay while I pondered what to do next."
	"An excellent notion.  A shady spot would be very nice."  Joe
didn't speak for a very long time.
	"Do you think we should go look?" Fred asked carefully,
watching Joe out of the corner of his left eye.
	"Well, now," answered Joe.  "Thinking about what might be on
the other side of this very large bush is one thing, but thinking
about actually seeing what's there is quite another.  It will require
a lot of thought.  There could be anything over there, perhaps some of
those annoying earwhigs which like to try to pinch my toes.  Most
unpleasant.  Or one of those ghastly lizards.  They like to run all
over the place, and that tires one out just to see it happening.  Yes,
there could be something quite unpleasant on the other side of this
bush."
	"You are right.  There could be something quite unnatural
there.  My apologies."
	"Think nothing of it," replied Joe.  "We are just pondering,
and one is allowed to ponder anything he wishes."  He proceeded to
ponder a while himself.  "I believe I am feeling a bit hungry."
	"Yes, so am I, now that you mention it."
	"Here is a plant I have eaten from before, and it is quite
nourishing."  Joe pointed his chin at a plant which was quite close
by.
	"I have eaten from this plant as well, and I did not care for
it, if you will pardon me for saying so," said Fred.
	"Oh, yes, I will pardon you.  I must admit I don't care for it
either.  It is, however, right here in front of us.  There is no need
to ponder where to go to find something to eat."
	"Quite right, yes, no need to ponder."  They both walked to
the unpalatable yet nourishing plant and proceeded to eat.

	To Walter, all of this pondering seemed a might excessive.
Everyone seemed to ponder everything and yet do nothing, really,
except eat whatever was in front of them and sleep right where they
were.  One find day he was sitting in front of a bush, facing the
black line which cut across the turtles' range.  All he could see was
the black line, and apparently on the other side of the black line,
some bushes he hadn't seen up close before.  As he sat there,
thinking, Joe walked up to him.
	"Hello, Walter.  What are you doing?" Joe asked.
	"Pondering."
	"Excellent," replied Joe.  "Pondering is a good activity for a
turtle."  He paused for a good 5 minutes before speaking again.  "We
are all quite worried about you, you know.  You seem to be a bit rash.
Just the other month I was telling Sarah how we think you should find
a nice female and settle down."
	"I have decided to cross the black line and look at those
bushes up close," said Walter.  He cringed, because he knew what was
coming.
	"Whoa, now, Walter!" said Joe.  "You just told me you were
pondering, and now you say you have decided to cross the black line.
No one crosses the black line!"
	"Sam did," said Walter, after only about 5 seconds had passed.
Joe looked very upset at this breach of turtle etiquette, even though
he wasn't going to say anything else.  He glared at Walter a good long
time.
	"Yes, Walter, Sam did, and he was never seen again."  He
paused.  "You know very well we don't talk about Sam.  He was a rash
turtle.  Very rash.  He refused to ponder anything.  And it brought
him to a bad end."
	"Yes, well, thank you, Joe," said Walter.  I'm going now.
Goodbye."  Walter walked towards the black line.
	"That poor, poor turtle," thought Joe.  "Too rash.  He never
ponders anything."  He pondered Walter's lack of pondering for a
while, until he felt hungry.  He looked and saw a thorny bush, his
least favorite thing to eat, but since it was nearby, he ate as much as
he could hold.
	Walter had already left by that time.  He walked towards the
black line, and the closer he got, the higher the black line became.
When he was right next to the black line, he saw that it wasn't a
black line.  It was much wider... it was some kind of path, like a
black river, but it was solid!  Walter was pleased to make a new
discovery.  He already felt vindicated.
	He started walking across.  It seemed a bit warmer than it had
been, although the sun didn't appear to be any closer.  It was quite a
long way.  By the time he got about 1/4 of the way across, he had to
stop to rest.  As he waited, he pondered just a bit about what he was
going to find once he crossed this solid black river.  He even dozed.
	He was awakened by a sound.  It was a distant rumbling.  It
seemed to change it pitch as it got closer.  He looked down the black
river, and saw a red beast coming towards him.  It was tall and thin
and had one foot right in the middle.  It was running very fast,
faster than any lizard.  It had one bright eye and a mean-looking
mouth.  Walter did what turtles do in these situations.  He pulled his
legs and head inside his shell and waited.  The beast ran right in
front of his head, inches away, and then continued down the river.
Walter stayed pulled in until he could no longer hear the evil red
beast.
	Walter slowly put his head and arms back out again.  That was
close!  He was still shaken, but undaunted.  He continued crossing the
solid black river.  While he walked, he pondered what this beast might
have been.  He thought about Sam, and wondered if Sam had crossed when
this beast was hungry, and had been eaten.  Turtles were very rarely
eaten by anything, since none of the predators living nearby knew how
to get into their shells, but the red beast had been so fearsome
looking that Walter was sure that the beast was perfectly capable of
eating a turtle.
	Walter finally got to the other side of the river.  There they
were, the mysterious bushes!  He got close to one and bit off one of
the leaves and chewed.  It tasted terrible!  He spit out what was
left.  And then Walter pondered, like he had never pondered before.
This adventure had turned out badly.  The food wasn't as good as it
was back home.  He looked around for another turtle to discuss the
situation with, but didn't see a one.
	"This is a bad bit of business," he thought.  "I came over
here, and all I found were bushes which aren't as good as the bushes
back home.  And there are no other turtles here to assist in my
pondering.  All in all, a mistake.  Yes, I have made a mistake."  He
pondered no longer, but turned and went back to cross the solid black
river again.
	As he was crossing, he heard the sound again.  The rumble of
the red beast.  Surely this time the beast would be hungry, and would
eat him. Still, he pulled his legs and head in again.  And again, the
beast ran right in front of him as it went back up the river.  Walter
didn't even wait before walking as fast as he could towards home.
When he got back across, he saw Joe standing near the same bush.
	"Walter," he said.  "I was just pondering what to do next,
whether I should go to my favorite bush or not, and here you are.  I
thought you were going to cross the black line."
	Walter waited longer than politeness dictated before
answering.  Joe looked pleased.  "As it turns out, that isn't a black
line at all, it is a solid black river.  And yes, I did cross it, and
I have come back.  It took all day, you see."
	"Ummm, well," said Joe, "and how were the bushes on the other
side?  If I recall correctly, you wanted to see the bushes."
	"They tasted terrible, much worse than anything I have ever
eaten.  It wasn't worth the trip, except for one thing.  I think I
know why we never saw Sam again."
	"Please, Walter, you know we don't talk about Sam."
	"Yes, I know, but this is important.  There is some kind of
red beast which runs up and down the black river.  It is huge, larger
than any beast I have ever seen.  I think the beast is the reason why
Sam never returned.  I think it ate Sam."
	"Oh, this is terrible," said Joe.  "So much to ponder.  The black
line is really a solid black river, there is a red monster that lives on
the river, and Sam was eaten by that same red monster. So much to
ponder."  He sat and, of course, pondered the pondering which would be
necessary before he could discuss this with the other turtles.  And he
pondered all the pondering they would have to do. Walter always
complicated things so!
	"Well," said Walter, "I am going back to my favorite bush,
where I will eat and then sleep."
	"How can you decide all that without pondering?"
	"Somehow," Walter answered, "it seems easier to know where I
am going and what I will be doing when I get there.  Besides, I can
still ponder while I walk, and since I already know what I want to do
anyway, once I am through pondering it, I will already be where I want
to be."  There was a very long pause, even for turtles.  Walter,
however, knew he had strained the bounds of politeness lately, so he
waited patiently and pondered over his new notion of pondering while
doing something else.  Finally Joe spoke.
	"You may have something there, Walter.  We can still ponder
properly, yet get where we want to go sooner.  Yes, this is wonderful!
I will ponder this new notion while I am walking to my favorite bush.
Thank you, Walter, this is a really remarkable idea!  Goodbye, and
good pondering."
	"Goodbye, and good pondering," Walter responded, as he walked
towards his favorite bush and pondered what he would do tomorrow.