One day a hare met a tortoise. She laughed at the tortoise and said, “You have as many legs as I have. But I am sure; you cannot run as fast as I can. Perhaps, you can’t run at all.”
The tortoise became very angry. He 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 was much amused. So she said, “Come along, then. Let’s fix a date for the race.”
They fixed a date. A fox came to see the race. 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 said to herself, “What’s the use of going so fast? Perhaps, the tortoise has gone only a few yards by this time. So, I can very well have a good sleep before he comes up.” So saying, 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 bush he saw the lazy hare lying fast asleep. He smiled and quietly passed by her.
Many hours passed. The hare woke up. She saw that it was already evening. She immediately got on her feet. She 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. She now said to herself. “It is true that the slow and steady wins the race.”
