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THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Adapted from Aesop
A Hare once said boastfully that he could run
faster than any of the other animals.
“I have never yet been beaten” said he, “and
I never shall be. I dare anyone here to run a race
with me”
The Tortoise answered quietly, “I will run a race
with you”
“You!” laughed the Hare, “Hah! Hah! Hah!
That is a good joke. A Turtle run a race with a
Hare! Why, I could dance around such a slow-
poke as you all the way, and still reach the goal
first.”
“Keep such big talk until you’ve truly won the
race,” said the Tortoise.
But the Hare continued to laugh: “Ho! Ho!
Ho! Hah! Hah! Hah! A Turtle run a race with a
Hare. Everybody come and see! The Turtle would
run a race with the Hare.”
All the little Forest Folk heard and came up to
see the fun.
“Well, well, well,” said a Raccoon to a Woodchuck.
“Think of it! Friend Turtle, whose legs are so
short he can hardly crawl, will run a race with
the Hare! Why, the Hare’s hind legs are so long
he can go at one leap as far as Friend Turtle can
creep in fifty slow steps!” So the Raccoon laughed,
and the Woodchuck laughed, and all the little Forest
Folk laughed. But the Tortoise still stuck to it
that he would run the race.
So they decided on a starting place and on the
road they should run to the goal. Then they put
their toes to the line and made ready. “One, two,
three, go!” shouted the Raccoon. They were off!
The Hare darted almost out of sight at once, but
when he had gone half way, he stopped. Just to
show how certain he was of reaching the goal ahead
of the Tortoise, he lay down in the middle of the
road and went to sleep. He slept and he slept
and he slept, but the Tortoise plodded on and
plodded on and plodded on.
At last, when the Hare awoke from his nap, lo
and behold! he saw the Tortoise had gone all the
way round the race course and was back again
near the winning-post. Then, though he ran as
fast as he could to make up for lost time, he could
not reach the goal until after the Tortoise.
“Three cheers for Friend Turtle! Hurrah! Hur-
rah! Hurrah!” shouted all the little Forest People.
But the Tortoise said quietly to the Hare:
“He who keeps steadily at work always comes
out ahead.”
