Monday, October 26, 2009

牠的一生 (The story of Hermit Turtle)

It was a hot summer time at Pearl River Delta in 1988. Mr. Turtle got picked up by a man. Mr. Turtle got a serious eye infection and as you would notice from his shell, there seemed to be some big fish jaws marks on it. Then Mr. Turtle became a pet at an apt. in Shaukiwan. It witnessed so many pets in the apt., from hamster, rabbit, quail, chicken, parrot, night owl, dog, to cats. On and off it moved to 5 different places but it ended up it is back to Shaukiwan. At its later days, his fellows White (one of a twin cats) and Yellow (the other one) accompanied him but both of them left him. The man who picked it up also left. Now Mr. Turtle is alone in the apt. and quite frightened to hear any sound or voice. It has been 31 years and whatever will be will be., Mr. Turtle decided to become a hermit. No need to care about what has been happening outside. Enjoying a moment of zero, a moment of being motionless, and a moment of contemplating.
1. Mr. Turtle in 1988.

2. Mr. Turtle in Oct., 2009. The life goes on.....

4 comments:

Stella said...

Oh what a sentimental story of Mr. Hermit Turtle.
This Mermit Turtle looks like my Ninja Turtle(I just went to the bath tub to double check) it is color, its size, its shape, except my Ninja is only 18 years old(this turtle is Chris' first X'Mas Gift).

in the sea said...

SS, does your ninja turtle open and shut up its front and rear parts? My sister's friend who is a teacher of biology told that Mr. Hermit Turtle may be a relative of the most expensive Guang Xi "golden coin" turtle. No wonder my aunts talked about several times of cooking it. 15 years ago, my boss brought me to an expensive meal with "golden coin" turtle soup and snake ball stir fried....etc. The meal was only for 4 persons and the bill is HK$7-8,000 and only that soup costed at close to HK$4,000. So as this specie of "golden coin" gets less and less, the price should be even more expensive. We once thought about giving it to the temple but then came to the reality that it may kill it since it lived in a protected environment.

Turtle's life can be very long at around 60-90 years. So that means your ninja turtle just passed thru' 1/5 of its time.

Stella said...

Yes SEA, My Ninja Turtle can hide its head and rear part under the shell. But I think all turtles can though.
"Golden Coin" turtle is very expensive and good for soup. Humm, I'd better not tell my mom as she likes to make turtle soup.
15 year ago you had dinner with $1000 US for 4 people. You are really "ho".
Your boss really treated you nice. No wonder you are so loyal.

in the sea said...

I am not sure if all the turtles can do that or if some of my other turtles just couldn't.

Re that meal was with another boss, and that should be more than 16-17 years ago, not 15 years (sorry).