The Hare And The Tortoise

One day a tortoise went for a walk. As he plodded slowly along, he met a hare. The hare was going for a walk too. The hare had long legs. He did not walk. He ran, and jumped, and played about. He stopped to look at the tortoise, and he began to laugh.
‘You are a very funny shape!’ said the hare to the tortoise. He laughed and laughed. ‘Your legs are very short. Is that why you walk so slowly? Look at my legs. They are very long. I can run very fast.’
‘I like to walk slowly,’ said the tortoise, ‘but perhaps I can get to the top of the hill as soon as I can’.
‘What?’ said the hare. ‘Do you want to run a race with me?’ He laughed so much that he fell on the ground. He lay on the grass, laughing and kicking his legs in the air.
‘Don’t laugh too soon,’ said the tortoise. ‘ Here is a fox. I shall ask him to start the race. We shall see who finishes first.’
‘Ha, ha!’ laughed the hare. ‘ This will be fun.’
The fox started the race.
‘One, two, three – Go!’ he shouted.
When the fox shouted ‘Go!’ the hare gave a big jump and bounded away as fast as he could. The tortoise started walking slowly. Soon he was along way behind the hare.
Half way up to the hill, the hare stopped and looked back. The tortoise was creeping slowly along in the distance.
The hare laughed. He thought he was very clever. He nibbled some grass, and he played about.
‘That tortoise will take a long time to get to the top of the hill,’ he said to himself. ‘I’ll have a rest.’
The hare lay down on the grass and fell round asleep.
The tortoise plodded slowly on and on. He did not hurry, but he never stopped walking.
After a long time, he passed the hare lying asleep. The tortoise smiled, and went on walking.
After a while, the hare woke up. He looked behind him for the tortoise. The tortoise was not there. The hare looked all round about. At last he saw the tortoise, nearly at the top of the hill. The hare jumped up, and bounded away as fast as he could.
The fox stood at the top of the hill. The tortoise got there first. In the distance he saw the hare bounding along.
The hare came hurrying up, out of breath. The tortoise looked at him and smiled.
‘You have fine long legs,’ he said, ‘ but they did not get you here so fast as my short legs. Slow and steady wins the race!’