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From time to time Rabi's dad takes the potter his wife makes into town to sell it. They all live in a rural region of Burkina Faso, a small landlocked nation in west Africa. One day, his father returns home without any money from the pots. He claims that he swerved to avoid hitting a tortoise, and all the pots were broken. He even brings the tortoise home to prove his story, but Rabi's mother is seriously not amused. In fact, she seem's to bear a grudge against the critter, and won't allow Rabi (Yacouba Kabore), who is fascinated by it, to keep it around. Rabi begins to mope around so seriously that his relatives take note. His grandfather knows what is wrong, and brings home a huge land tortoise for the boy to play with. This puts gramps on the wrong side with Rabi's mother, but he stands his ground.