The famous race between the proud hare and the steady tortoise, showing that perseverance beats overconfidence.

The story begins: Once upon a time there lived a hare and a tortoise in a forest. The hare was very proud of his speed and often made fun of the slow tortoise.

The Story

The hare could run very fast, and he was very proud of it. He often laughed at the tortoise for walking so slowly and teased him whenever they met.

One day the hare mocked the tortoise more than usual. Tired of the insults, the tortoise calmly said, "Do not be so proud of your speed. Let us have a race and see who really wins."

The hare burst out laughing at the idea, but he agreed at once. A fox was chosen as the judge. He fixed a distant tree as the finishing point and gave the signal to start.

As soon as the race began, the hare shot ahead and was soon far out of sight. The tortoise started slowly but kept moving forward steadily, without stopping for a moment.

After running a long way, the hare looked back and saw the tortoise far behind. "The poor fellow will take hours to reach here," he thought. "I have plenty of time to rest."

So the hare lay down under a shady tree to take a short nap. Feeling sure of his victory, he soon fell into a deep sleep and forgot all about the race.

Meanwhile, the tortoise plodded on slowly and steadily. He did not stop to rest even once. Little by little he passed the sleeping hare and moved on towards the finishing point.

After some time the hare woke up and remembered the race. He sprang up and ran as fast as he could towards the tree. But it was already too late.

When the hare reached the finishing point, he saw that the tortoise had already crossed the line and won the race. The hare hung his head in shame, and his pride was gone.

Everyone praised the tortoise for his patience and steady effort. The hare learnt that speed alone is of no use without care and steady work.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.