By Grace Morgan
Long ago, an arrogant young hare was bragging to a turtle that he was so fast, he
could easily beat the poor turtle in any race. The turtle smiled meekly at the hare’s conceited
boast; however, he accepted the challenge readily, for who doesn’t love a good challenge? Theychose the old badger to set the start and finish lines, and on the appointed day both showed up at the starting line right on time.
The hare, wearing his brand new red and white running shorts he’d bought especially for
the occasion, was stretching and exercising near the line when the tortoise showed up a few
minutes later, wearing nothing but his dark green shell. The hare laughed. What an amateur, he
thought.
When they had lined up and the old badger had sent them on their way down the track,
the hare bolted off as fast as he could go. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the tortoise just a
few yards beyond the finish line, moseying his way along.
At just about the halfway mark, the hare decided to stop and nibble on some grass to get
some of his strength back, seeing as the tortoise was a mere dot on the horizon. As he was
bending over to nibble, he realized that his back was a little bit sore. Looking once more toward
the turtle, and finding him still far behind, the hare decided to rest his sore back on some soft
moss growing nearby. The next thing he knew, he was asleep.
The hare woke with a start and realized what had happened immediately. Looking back
toward the horizon, he could see nothing and so he anxiously turned to look in the other
direction, toward the finish line. There, indeed, was the turtle - again a mere dot on the horizon;
however, this time the hare wasn’t at ease! He ran as fast as he could, for the tortoise was nearly
at the red flag - the finish line.
He was too late. As the hare dashed across the finish line, he looked over to see the turtle,
not even a mite out of breath, gingerly sipping on a pinã-colada. The impudence! The hare
spluttered and wheezed. It was impossible! Could a wimpy, slow, turtle have really beaten him?
“I must say,” said the turtle, interrupting the hare’s thoughts, “I didn’t expect to win. I’m
not bragging or anything, but merely commenting on how surprised I am as well!”
“How - on - earth,” panted the hare, “did - you - do -it?”
The turtle smiled, as he replied, “I once heard a very wise man say something to the
extent that ‘slow but steady wins the race.’ It has been my motto ever since.”
The hare thought for a moment. “Why aren’t you rubbing this in my face?” he asked. “I
mean, I was really rubbing into your face about being so fast, I’ll beat you easy-peasy. I
don’t get it.”
“Well,” began the turtle, “I believe that we ought to extend mercy and grace to people,
especially when they make mistakes! I know that you were very arrogant when we began, and
even though I wasn’t expecting to win, I did hope that you would learn that being kind, gracious,
and merciful is a very good thing to do.”
The hare smiled. He had learned! It felt so good to have the turtle being kind to him that
he decided he would strive to imitate the turtle’s kind attitude, as well as to not be arrogant anymore. He realized that all his life he’d been a braggart and un-sportsman. All the forest animals hated him because of it! Not only would he be doing the right thing in trying to change, but he would also be winning back the favor of the other animals. He might even make a few friends.
He still thought that being fast and reliable was better than being slow and steady, but he
kept that little part to himself.
