A mouse, a cat, a tiger, an elephant and a tortoise went to meet the creator. They were angry about something.

First, the mouse spoke.

“Why did you give me only two years to live but gave the cat eight years?” asked the mouse.

Next, the cat spoke.

“I get only eight years but the tiger gets sixteen years. That is not fair is it.” asked the cat.

Then, the tiger spoke.

“You think I am privileged.” the tiger said to the mouse and the cat. “I live only for sixteen years but this big one here gets to live sixty years.”

After that, the elephant came.

“My sixty years is nothing compared to the tortoise here who lives for two hundred years.” said the elephant.

Finally the tortoise spoke.

“I know that some of my ancestors lived up to two hundred years. I want to know if any other animal can live longer than the tortoise.” asked the tortoise.

The creator listened to all the animals squabble.

“You are all created equal. You all get the same number of heart beats. To be exact you all get a billion heartbeats before you die.” said the creator.

The animals were surprised to hear this. They wanted to know more.



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