5. The Hare And The Tortoise

    Up in the mountains of a bright and sunny country lived a big brown hare, who made his home among the wild flowers, just as in colder lands he would make it among the rough grasses of the moors.  Not very far from him a tortoise also had a house, among the stones that bordered a sparkling stream.  The tortoise was a strange fellow, and sat all day under his own big shell, which was shaped rather like a basin upside down.  Now and then he would poke out from under the shelter of the shell, a small flat head, and four small flat feet, and take a slow walk into the water and out again.  The rest of the time he spent among the scarlet anemones, apparently fast asleep.

    One day, as he put out his funny little head, he saw the hare's bright eyes fixed upon him in great amusement, while a broad smile twitched the whiskers of his neighbor's furry mouth!

    The tortoise returned the look with calm dignity.

    "Why do you laugh at me, Mr. Hare?" said he sedately.

    "Because you're such an odd-looking animal," replied the hare.  "You've got no legs!"

    The tortoise did his best to show that this was untrue.  He struggled to put the whole length of his legs outside his shell, but being a tortoise, he could not manage it.  So he drew his feet back into their usual position.

    "Run a race with me!" said he tartly.  "You will soon see whether I have any legs or not!"

    "A race--with you!"  The hare burst out laughing.  "Oh, certainly, you funny Mr. Tortoise!  Where shall we race to?"

    "To wherever you like!" snapped the tortoise.  "Mr. Fox is sitting over there, by the rabbit-burrow.  He can choose the goal and mark out the course!"

    The hare agreed to this-- but he took good care to find a safe high rock from which to talk to Mr. Fox, who came trotting up in answer to a call from the tortoise.

    "Good Mr. Fox," said the tortoise, "Mr. Hare and I are going to run a race."

    "Ah, and what is the prize?" asked Mr. Fox instantly, hoping he would be asked to hold it.

    "There is no prize," answered the tortoise with great dignity.  "We are going to race for honor and glory."

    The hare nodded his head from where he sat on the rock, and repeated the words quite gravely.

    "For honor and glory!"

    "Oh," said Mr. Fox, rather disappointed.  "Then what do you want me to do?"

    "To choose the goal and mark out the course," answered the tortoise, "and the longer and harder the better!"

    Mr. Fox thought the affair was going to be amusing, even if there were no prize.  So he sat up on his haunches, looked wisely round the landscape, and finally nodded his head towards the towers of a city miles and miles away.

    "You shall race to that city," said he, "and you shall go round by the river on the left, and over the hill on the right, and through the oak-wood in the valley!  I will keep an eye on both of you to see that you race fairly."

    He trotted off, glancing back over his shoulder now and then, and showing a good deal of interest in Mr. Hare!  But Mr. Hare was looking superior, and rather contemptuous.

    "Good morning to you, Mr. Tortoise," said he.  "I'll see you again in a day or two!"

    Off he leapt, slipped quickly and cautiously past Mr. Fox, and bounded gaily in the direction of the city.  Mr. Tortoise just waited to say good-bye to his wife and family, and then set out in the same direction.

    Mr. Hare galloped merrily for a mile or so, and then, feeling rather tired, looked for a nice spot where he could rest.  When he had found one, warm and sweet among the clover, he lay down.

    "I can certainly spend the rest of the day here," he said to himself.  "In the cool of the evening I will set out again for the city.  I shall overtake Mr. Tortoise in a very few minutes!"

    So he settled himself with his nose on his fore-feet, and almost immediately fell asleep.

    But Mr. Tortoise, under his shell, was more wide-awake than he had ever been in his life.  Slowly and surely, slowly and surely, he made his way down to the river on the left and swam through it very easily indeed.  Then up the hill on the right he clambered, his funny little feet moving steadily under his shell.  Through the oak-wood he crept, making a little slow dark moving patch under the shadows of the trees.  And, as evening came on, he saw the towering spires of the city right in front!

    Mr. Hare meanwhile had slept soundly among the clover the whole day long.  All at once he woke with a start.  The sun had set, and a moon like a crystal ball was hanging right over his head in the sky.

    "Bless my soul, I've overslept myself!" exclaimed Mr. Hare, leaping quickly to his feet.  And off he rushed like the wind.

    Down to the river he hurried, and swam straight to the other side--and if you tell me that hares don't swim rivers, I can only answer that they do!  Over the hill and through the wood he galloped on his noiseless pads.  And at last he, too, saw the spires of the city right in front.

    Then he bounded to the gates.  But what do you think was the first thing that met his gaze?  Why, the sleeping form of Mr. Tortoise, who, with Mr. Fox by his side, was taking a comfortable and well-earned rest!

    "Ah-ha!" cried Mr. Fox, as Mr. Hare sat down in the moonlight and shook his long ears angrily.  "You are a quick runner, Mr. Hare, as nobody knows better than myself!  But if quick runners want to win a race with slow runners, they mustn't lie down and go to sleep on the way!"