The Hare and the Tortoise

There was once a hare who was very proud of his running. "No one is as speedy as me!" he cried. "Would anyone like to race?"

"No thanks!" laughed the other animals. "We know you can run faster than any of us. We'd be silly to try to race you."

It was the same every day. The hare would boast about his running to everyone he met and no one dared to race him.

But one fine day, a little voice piped up politely behind him. "I will give you a race if you like, Mr. Hare," it said.

The hare turned around in surprise. Standing before him was a wrinkly old tortoise, blinking in the sunshine. "Oh my!" replied the hare sarcastically. "You make me quake and tremble, Mr. Torroise."

But the old tortoise was serious and the animals who had gathered around said, "You are always wanting to race, Hare. Let's see you do it!" So it was agreed that the hare and the tortoise would race to the old oak tree and back.

"On your marks! Get set! Go! yelled the squirrel, waving her tail, and the runners set off.

In a couple of seconds, the hare was nearly out of sight. The tortoise set off in his usual slow way. There seemed no doubt that the hare would win before the tortoise even reached the oak tree.

"Come on, Mr. Tortoise," the hare yelled over his shoulder. "This isn't much of a race!" But the tortoise saved his breath and kept plodding along.

When he reached the oak tree, the hare felt a little out of breath. For the past few months, he had done more boasting than running. In any case, he knew that he was going to win easily, so he sat down under the oak tree to rest. It was a very hot day. The hare's eyelids began to close and soon he was fast asleep.

Now, all the time that the hare was dozing, the tortoise was ambling purposefully along. He took things steadily and never stopped for a rest.

An hour later, the hare woke up under the tree. He could hear cheering in the distance. Leaping to his feet, he set off as fast as his legs would carry him toward the finish line. He had never run so hard in his life. Surely he could catch the tortoise! But the tortoise's old head bobbed over the line a whisker before the hare's.

"Hurray for our new champion!" yelled all the animals.

I have heard that Mr. Hare hasn't been boasting so much lately. "Being quick on your feet is a fine thing, but slow and steady wins the race," said Mr. Tortoise.

Moral of the Story: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.