Chapter 1
A hare once ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the tortoise. But the tortoise laughed and replied, “Though you may be as swift as the wind, I’ll beat you in a race.”
“All right,” said the hare, “you’ll soon live to regret those words.”
So they agreed that the fox would choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race, the tortoise started crawling at his usual steady pace without stopping a solitary moment. Of course, the hare soon left the tortoise far behind. Once he reached the midway mark, he began to nibble some juicy grass and amuse himself in different ways. Since the day was warm, he thought he would take a little nap in a shady spot. Even if the tortoise might pass him while he slept, he was confident that he could easily over-take him again before he reached the goal. Meanwhile, the unwavering tortoise plodded-on straight toward the goal. When the hare finally awoke, he was surprised to find that the tortoise was nowhere to be seen, and headed for the finish line as fast as he could. However, he dashed across the line only to see that the tortoise had crossed it before him and was comfortably resting and waiting for his arrival.
Slow and steady wins the race.
