The Hare and The Tortoise

Once upon a time, there lived a tortoise and a hare in a forest. The hare now and then teased the tortoise for its slow pace. One day the hare said to the tortoise, “You have as many legs as I have. But I am sure, you cannot run as fast as I can. Most probably you can’t run at all”. The tortoise became very angry. But he controlled himself and answered quietly. “You can run quite fast, no doubt But I think, you can talk even faster than you can run. However, I agree to run a five-mile race with you.” At this, the hare felt very delighted. They fixed a date. A fox came to see the race. On the fixed date the tortoise and the hare came to the starting point. The race began. The hare began to run very fast. She jumped and jumped. She ran a mile in a few minutes. Soon she found the tortoise far behind her. Then she stopped. She thought, “I can have a good sleep before the tortoise comes up.” Thinking so, the hare went to sleep in a bush.

In the meantime, the tortoise walked on and on. He did not stop anywhere. When he came to the bush, he saw the lazy hare lying fast asleep. He smiled and quietly passed by her. After some time the hare woke up. She saw that it was already evening. She immediately got on her feet and began to run very fast. But alas! The tortoise had already gone far. She came in sight of the goal. But the tortoise was already crossing the winning post. The hare felt much ashamed.



Moral : slow and steady wins the race.”