60 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
THE HARE AND THE PORCUPINE
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Once upon a time . . . an old porcupine lived in a large wood with his twin
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sons. Apples were their favourite dish, but the youngsters sometimes raided a
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neighbouring vegetable plot for the turnips Dad loved to munch. One day, one
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of the young porcupines set off as usual to fetch the turnips. Like all
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porcupines, he was a slow walker, and he had just reached a large cabbage,
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when from behind the leaves, out popped a hare.
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"So you have arrived at last!" said the hare. "I've been watching you for
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half an hour. Do you always dawdle? I hope you're quicker at eating, or it
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will take you a year to finish the turnips!" Instead of going into a huff at
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being teased, the porcupine decided to get his own back by being very crafty.
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Slow on his feet but a quick thinker, he rapidly hit on a plan. So the hare
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sneered at the slow porcupine, did he? Well, the hare's own turn of speed would
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be his downfall!
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"I can run faster than you if I try," said the porcuplne "Ha! Ha!" the hare
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shrieked with laughter, raising a large paw. "You can't compete with this! My
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grandad was the speediest hare of his day. He even won a gold penny. He used
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to be my coach. And you tell me you can run faster than me? Well, I bet my
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grandad's gold penny that I can win without even trying!"
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The porcupine paid little heed to the hare's boastful words and quietly
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acccepted the challenge. "I'll meet you tomorrow down at the ploughed field.
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We'll race in parallel furrows. And see wins!"
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The hare went away laughing.
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"Better stay here all night! You'll never get home and back in time for the
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race!" he told the porcupine. The porcupine, however, had a bright idea. When
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he arrived home, he told his twin brother what had happened. Just before dawn
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next day, he gave his instructions, and off they set for the field. Hare
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appeared, rudely remarking: "I'll take off my jacket so I can run faster!"
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Ready! Steady! Go! And in a flash, the hare streaked to the other end of
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the field. There, waiting for him was a porcupine, which tesingly said:
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"Rather late, aren't you? I've been here for ages!" Gasping and so
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breathless his throat was dry, the hare whispered: "Let's try again!"
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"All right," agreed the porcupine, "we'll run the race again." Never in all
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his life had the hare run so fast. Not even with the hounds snapping at his
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heels. But every time he reached the other end of the ploughed field, what did
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he flnd but the porcupine, who laughingly exclaimed: "What? Late again? I
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keep on getting here first!" Racing up and down the field the hare sped,
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trying to beat the porcupine. His legs grew terribly tired and he began to
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sag. And every time he came to the end of the field there stood a porcupine
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calling himself the winner.
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"Perhaps I ought to mention, friend hare, that my grandad was the fastest
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porcupine of his day. He didn't win a gold penny, but he won apples, and after
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the race, he ate them. But I don't want apples. I'd rather have the nice gold
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penny you promised me!" said one of the porcupine twins.
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The hare slid to the ground, dead tired. His head was spinning and his legs
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felt like rubber.
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"This race is the end of me! I shall die here in this field, where I really
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believed I was a sprinter! The shame of it! What a disgrace!" The hare
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staggered home, hot and sticky, to fetch the gold penny that he had never for
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a moment ever imagined he would lose. His eyes brimming with tears, he handed
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it over to the porcupines.
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"Thank goodness my grandad isn't alive to see this!" he said. "Whatever
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would he say? After all his coaching, here I am, beaten by a porcupine!"
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That evening, a party was held at the porcupines' house. The twins danced
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triumphantly in turn, waving aloft the gold penny. Father Porcupine brought
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out his old accordion for the special occasion, and the fun went on all night.
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As luck would have it, the hare never did find out the secret of how the race
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had been rigged. Which was just as well! . . .
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