34 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
34 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
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Once upon a time .... there was a hare who, boasting how he could run
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faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then
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one day, the irate tortoise answered back: "Who do you think you are? There's
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no denying you're swift, but even you can be beaten!" The hare squealed with
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laughter.
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"Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there's nobody in the
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world that can win against me, I'm so speedy. Now, why don't you try?"
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Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was
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planned, and next day at dawn they stood at the startiny line. The hare yawned
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sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how
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painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a
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quick nap. "Take your time!" he said. "I'll have forty winks and catch up with
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you in a minute."
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The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for
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the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely
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covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he
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might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he
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had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his
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eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the
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course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning
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post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise's face when it
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saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring happily. The
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sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been
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plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from the
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finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the
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tortoise a speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a
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great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and
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he'd be first at the finish. But the hare's last leap was just too late, for
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the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in
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disgrace, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.
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"Slowly does it every time!" he said.
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