There were two friends—a hare and a tortoise. The hare was known for his swiftness and speed and the tortoise was known for his sluggishness. He was extremely slow.
One day, during a friendly chat, the hare began making fun of his markedly slow speed. The tortoise was slightly annoyed but said with a smile, “I may be slow, but I can beat you in race.”
The hare was simply astonished to hear this.
“Are you kidding,” said the hare in bewilderment. “I hope you are not serious.”
“I am very serious. I am sure I can outrun you,” said the tortoise.
Seeing the tortoise so serious, the hare said, “All right, in that case, we shall appoint a referee and fix a venue for the event.”
They agreed upon it and parted.
Next day, a rat was appointed as referee. A large field by the side of a river was fixed as venue and a big banyan tree, about a mile away from the rat’s hole, was decided to be the winning post.
The rat made the tortoise and the hare to settle on their marks on the starting point.
“On your marks! Set! Go,” and the race began.
Off went the hare with a lightning speed. The tortoise began at a very slow speed. It was very funny to watch the race.
“Poor tortoise,” said the rat, “The hare will cover the distance to the winning post ten times before the tortoise could reach it even once. No match!”
The hare must have reached about half a mile when he stopped to see where the tortoise was. He looked back. The tortoise was not to be seen. “Oh, poor fellow! You are far behind. Meanwhile, I shall eat some green grass and take rest for a while, and when the tortoise becomes visible, I shall start up again,” said the hare to himself.
The hare ate soft green grass, drank some water and lay down under a small tree to take a rest. He had no intentions to sleep, but the cool air along the riverside put him to deep sleep.
On the other side, the tortoise, though very slow, kept moving in a steady speed.
The hare slept for quite some time. When he woke up, he looked around and the tortoise was not to be seen anywhere. Since, he had had a good nap, he got up and began running again. But he was dumbstruck, when he reached the winning post. The tortoise had already reached there.
The hare had lost the race. He accepted his defeat sportingly. After that the hare never made a fun of the tortoise for his slow speed.
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