Original artwork, not a still
Yertle the Turtle · 1958
And today the great Yertle, that Marvelous he, Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see. And the turtles, of course…all the turtles are free As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the moral of the book, delivered as a joke: the mightiest ruler in the pond is toppled not by an army but by the smallest, most put-upon turtle having a belch. The last couplet turns a children's rhyme into a plain statement about freedom, and that is why it is quoted whenever someone wants Seuss's politics in one breath. Seuss said Yertle was Hitler, which is how Mack's burp reads as a tyrant's fall.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Yertle the TurtleShow the scene
These are the closing lines of the title story in Dr. Seuss's Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories (Random House, 1958). Yertle, king of the pond on the island of Sala-ma-sond, has made his subjects stack themselves into a tower so he can rule everything he can see. Mack, the turtle at the bottom, has begged for rest twice and been told to be quiet. When Yertle tries to climb higher than the moon, Mack burps, the tower shudders, and the king tumbles into the water, left as King of the Mud. The turtles swim free. Seuss said Yertle stood for Hitler.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia, Yertle the Turtle and Other StoriesPlot, section 'Yertle the Turtle'; Publication historyReference checked
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