How the Turtle Got his Shell

There once was a creature
who lived in the jungle,
and ate naught but dried up old leaves.
He was skinny and green,
and never was seen
eating leaves fresh off the trees.

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One day Lion and Tiger
invited him cordially
to a feast they called “fit for a king.”
At this great feast
was a pile of green leaves.
Never before dared he eat such a thing.

“Oh, I might as well try it,
and break from my diet
of dried and brown crispy plants.”
Once the creature had tasted,
not a leaf left he wasted!
He chomped and he gobbled and danced!

Now this was the plan
of sly Lion and Tiger:
on their guest unsuspecting they'd jump.
Then they'd have their own lunch;
on their guest they would munch.
Having feasted on leaves, he'd be plump.

But alas, their plan
most carefully crafted
was thwarted by witless sheer luck.
For the once skinny thing
who had eaten so much
was now in hard-wood good and stuck.

He'd carved him a suit
out of beautiful wood
that he wore when he went to the dinner.
“Oh don't I look grand!
Just dapper I say!
In a contest of fashion, I'd be winner!”

Now in this wood suit
the green guest took his rest
that naturally follows repast.
And Lion and Tiger
chewed with all of their might,
but the shell of the turtle held fast.