The tortoise was aware that every day the hippo and his seven wives went to the river to drink water and wash themselves. The hippo walked first with the seven wives following him. One such day, when the hippo along with his seven wives had gone for a bath in the nearby river, the tortoise made a small hole in the ground and waited for them.
After a while, the tortoise noticed that five of the hippo’s wives had moved ahead along with the hippo, leaving behind two wives. The tortoise quickly came out of his hole and buried himself half into the sand leaving the other half exposed.