In a magical forest where animals live in harmony, a speedy hare learns a valuable life lesson from a wise old tortoise. This classic tale of patience, humility, and determination – The Tortoise and the Hare – shows that sometimes, slow and steady really does win the race. Watch the enchanting story come to life!
The Tortoise and the Hare
Once upon a time, there was a forest full of friendly animals. They lived in harmony, taking care of each other and enjoying their days playing in the shade of the trees and splashing in the forest pools. It was bliss.
All apart from one thing. There was one forest animal who was a little bit… well… he didn’t get on as well with the other animals. The hare liked to spend his days running and running and running around the forest as fast as he could (which was really very fast indeed).
He could run so fast he was like a blur, pinging all around the trees and up and down the hills and running circles around the other animals, shouting out, “I’m faster than you, I’m faster than you!”
Deeper into the forest, where the shade was thicker and cooler, and the bushes and ferns dampened the sounds of the children playing, lived an old tortoise. Everything he did was slow, purposeful, and deliberate. But he was also kind, and he was very wise. The other animals were always traveling to his quiet corner of the forest to ask for his advice.
One day, when the hare had been particularly obnoxious, running rings around the other animals and laughing at them when they tried to catch him, the animals went to the tortoise for help.
“Tortoise,” they said, “please help us! The hare is driving us crazy, he’s upsetting the children, and he is making our happy forest life very tricky indeed!”
“I can help,” the wise old tortoise said, and here is what he did.
The next day, the tortoise slowly plodded his way to the hare’s part of the forest and knocked on his door with a gnarled old foot.
“Hello, old tortoise,” the hare smirked. “What have you dragged your slowpoke shell all the way out here for?”
“I’ve come to challenge you, hare. To a race.”
The hare laughed and laughed until tears rolled down his furry face, and he was bent double, wheezing. Finally, once he had composed himself, he said, “You surely can’t mean that, old tortoise. For I’m the fastest animal in the forest, and you’re slower than a snail stuck to a frosty stick!”
“Tomorrow. Sunrise. We meet by the lily pond,” the tortoise said. And then he turned his back and started the slow plod back to his house.
At sunrise the next morning, the hare arrived at the lily pond and found the tortoise was already there at the starting line. Not only that, but all the other forest animals had got up early, hopeful that the hare might get some sort of comeuppance for his actions.
The tortoise had sketched the route for the race in the dirt with a stick. They would race past the lily pond, zigzag up and down the forest paths, up to the top of Windy Hill and back down the other side, and finally back to the lily pond again.
The hare smirked. It would take him barely an hour to race that far. He’d be back in time for breakfast. He wouldn’t be surprised if it took the tortoise all day!
A raccoon lined them up at the starting line and said, “On your marks…”
The hare looked over to the tortoise and grinned a toothy grin, “Are you regretting this yet, slowpoke?”
“Get set…”
“Eat my dust!” the hare said.
“GO!”
The hare shot off in a cloud of dust and disappeared into the forest, so fast he was barely a blur. The assembled animals cheered and whooped, “Go on, tortoise!” “Tortoise for the win!” “Tortoise, tortoise, tortoise!” But as the dust slowly settled, the animals’ faces fell, as the air cleared to reveal that the tortoise had barely taken three steps over the line. Plod, plod, plod. He didn’t seem to be trying at all!
Meanwhile, the hare was zipping and boinging up and down the zigzagging forest paths and was heading for Windy Hill. Animals from all over the forest lined the track to see him thunder past them at rocket speeds, and then stood in anticipation to see the tortoise. They waited… and waited… and it seemed hours before he appeared in the distance. Plodding along just as slowly as before, his speed steady and consistent.
“Come on, tortoise!” the animals cheered. “Faster! You can do it!”
The tortoise simply gazed straight ahead with a calm, focused look and carried on just the same. Plod, plod, plod.
The hare had reached Windy Hill and started the ascent. It was a steep, rocky incline, but the hare made short work of it and was soon at the very top, looking out at the view of the forest and far beyond. He stopped for a moment to admire it.
The sun had come up fully now, and the heat of it was beating down on his head. He was sweaty and out of breath. He had woken up very early to do his stretches and have a hearty breakfast before the race, and he was only now realizing that he hadn’t really had enough sleep.
He noticed a little patch of soft grass under a shady bush, wildflowers growing all around. “The tortoise won’t be here for hours!” he thought smugly. “I’ll have plenty of time for a quick rest.” And so he lay down, comfy and cool, planning to just rest his eyes for a moment.
But the moment turned into a minute, and the minute turned into ten, and without meaning to, the hare fell fast asleep.
The tortoise trudged on at his steady pace. He reached the end of the zigzag path and started the slow ascent to the top of Windy Hill. The sun beat down on him, but it warmed his smooth shell and scaly skin pleasantly, and he continued on his way without breaking a sweat. Up and up he went until he reached the top. The view was breathtaking, but he did not stop to admire it. On, he pushed. Plod, plod, plod.
The animals in the forest had noticed that the hare hadn’t returned from the hill and peered down the forest path in anticipation. In the distance, they saw the tortoise approaching, and they started to cheer and stamp their feet!
The commotion in the forest startled the hare awake, and he jumped to his feet. “Oh no!” he said. “I must hurry!”
He dashed down the hillside faster than ever, dust flying up behind him. He dashed past the forest animals, wind whipping their faces. In the distance, he could see the finish line and the tortoise inching closer to it. He hurtled towards it at a speed that shocked even him! His muscles screamed and his feet burned, but he would not—could not—lose to a tortoise!
The animals at the finish line were jumping up and down, shouting and hugging each other as the tortoise plod, plod, plodded and placed one gnarled old toe over the finish line. A fraction of a second later, the hare came hurtling over it too, so fast he couldn’t stop in time, careening straight into the lily pond. SPLASH!
The tortoise had won!
Dripping, the hare sloshed his way out of the pond and approached the tortoise. “You won fair and square,” he said quietly, looking down at his feet.
“I hope you’ve learned your lesson, hare,” said the tortoise. “You mustn’t rush around so much—slow and steady wins the race.”
The hare’s cheeks blushed, and he turned to the other animals. “Sorry, everyone,” he said.
From that day on, the hare was a little steadier, a little calmer. He only used his speed for important and helpful jobs or to make the children giggle, and everybody loved him.
And so, he lived happily, and steadily, ever after.
Also read: Jack and the Beanstalk
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