Aesop's Fables (Joseph Jacobs)
Jacobs 68. The Hare and the Tortoise (Perry
226)
The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I
have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full
speed. I challenge any one here to race with me."
The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round
you all the way."
"Keep your boasting till you've beaten," answered the Tortoise.
"Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out
of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the Tortoise,
lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when
the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the winning-post
and could not run up in time to save the race. Then said the Tortoise:
"Plodding wins the race."
The
Fables of Aesop, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by
Richard Heighway (1894). The page images come from Google
Books. The digitized text comes from Project
Gutenberg. You can purchase this inexpensive Dover edition, The
Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs from amazon.com.
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