Editor's Note

I wanted to bring this to your attention.

Web posted January 27, 1999 by CNN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Three's a crowd?

TAINAN, Taiwan (CNN & AP) -- A villager in southern Taiwan recently discovered an unusual occupant in his pond: a three-headed turtle.

Lin Chi-fa took the turtle directly to a temple to have it blessed.

Chinese folklore regards the turtle as a sacred animal, and the priests at the temple told Lin that the three-headed turtle was a gift from God. They said the turtle's markings depict a complete "pa-gua" -- a diagram that plots a map of destiny -- and that it could safeguard Lin's future.

While the three-headed turtle may have insight into Lin's destiny, it seems to have trouble determining its own course in life. Lin noted that the turtle walks in a zigzag pattern because the two fully-developed heads which flank a partially developed one cannot agree on which direction to take.