The Hare and the Tortoise

One day in an animal meeting, the hare was boasting about his rabbit speed. "well, " the hare said: "there is no animal on this here earth who can outrun me. any one who doubts that, he can put his racing shoes on and race with me."
Every one kept silent. For all of them knew of his rabbit speed!
But then, miracle of miracles, a small voice was heard: "I am willing to race you," said the voice.
And who was the bold challenger? Well, it was mr. tortoise! All the amimals shook their heads in astonishment. "what got into the tortoise," they thought.
the hare laughed from ear to ear: "you must be out of your mind," said he; "i could go from here to the moon and back before you get to the next town."
"Please keep your boasting to yourself," answered the tortoise. "I propose that we let the results of the race speak for themselves. "

So the course was fixed to run from the animal meeting garden, to the path leading east over the hill, down the valley, and over to the big tree just outside the animal town east.
At the start signal, the hare darted quickly, ran three times around the tortoise, and then up the trail to the top of the hill. there, he hoped up into the air, and then he looked down to the starting line. it appeared as if the poor tortoise was still trying to manage the start of the race. he felt pity and contempt for the tortoise. "There was no way on earth that the tortoise can win this race, and no reason for me to run any longer," thought the hare.
As a matter of fact, he could stop by the fig tree on his way down the valley. Chances were good that one or two honey figs might have fallen to the ground. Then he could rest for a while under the big oak tree, and even find some delectable clover there. Thinking this way, he kept walking down the hill, whistling and frolicking.
As luck should have it, he found two sweet figs and ate them there on the spot; came to the big oak tree and found some delectable clover there by the creek; drank some refreshing water; and then found a good spot under the oak tree to stand and wait. when he looked up the hill, the tortoise was no where to be seen! he felt contented and well fed. life was good to him....and before you can say "rabbit ears", he was in deep sleep.

All of a sudden the cry of crow woke him up. "Those noisy crows," he thought, "they have the bad habit of waking me up when i take my sweet, midday siesta." He saw that the sun was almost down over the horizon. "I must have slept for hours," he thought. then his brain cleared, and he thought of the race. he looked at the path up the hill. the tortoise was not there. quickly he turned and looked in the direction of the village. He could not believe his eyes! with his sharp hare eyes, he could see the tortoise almost at the end line of the race. "No, it cannot be!" he cried, and he started running like lightning as the tortoise was crossing the finishing line.

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