The Hare and the Tortoise | Aesop's Fables

The late Aesop is known to have written multiple fables. These fables are instrumental in delivering learning approaches to children. The fables confer moral values, life skills and many other beneficial principles to the lives of children in different parts of the world.

The fable of the tortoise and the hare stands as one of Aesop’s most popular stories despite the fact that it only features three characters. Its audience extends to all corners of the world. Curriculums have incorporated this moral story in their syllabus to help children grow up with the ideal moral values.

The Hare naps while the Tortoise crosses the finish line - Drawing by Askur Eyland (9 years old)

This fable is known by many teachers and children. Following its popularity, multiple versions have been generated although the concept remains the same. Out of all the existing versions of the fable of the tortoise and the hare, Aesop’s version stands out because of its authenticity and that is why it remains the most sought after. There is no second thought to the fact that, this fable holds a significant moral lesson that everyone should appreciate.

The Hare and the Tortoise

It happened that the hare was mocking the tortoise because the tortoise moves very slowly. The hare would often ask the tortoise how he managed to go about his duties and whether he managed to go anywhere at all. In honest defense, the tortoise insisted that for sure, he did manage to go places and despite his pace, he always got to different places faster than the hare expected. To support his argument, the tortoise proposed that they both engage in a race that would prove his claims.

Out of pride and over confidence, the hare took this challenge humorously but accepted. According to the hare, this would be a good opportunity to enjoy himself, shame the tortoise and get a chance to gloat. The race between the hare and the tortoise would be presided over by the fox who would take the role of setting the distance to be covered, flag them off to start and even serve as the judge.

As soon as the raced kicked off, the hare took off very fast and in a short while, the tortoise could not see him. To make matters worse, when the hare had covered a very long distance, he decided to gloat a little by going into slumber to give the tortoise time to match the distance that he had covered.

Committed to do his best, the tortoise, moved fairly and squarely in his slow speed ensuring that he kept his focus on the race. After a long period of walking the tortoise reach where the hare was waiting only to find the hare fast asleep. The hare had forgotten that the slumber was supposed to be light just to give the tortoise time to catch up and so deep sleep had taken over. The tortoise continued in his slow but steady movement all along his eye set to the price- winning the race.

After his sleep, the hare woke up but then by this time, the tortoise had already gone very far and was almost reaching the finish line to become the winner of the race. This shocked the hare and because of the influence of panic, the hare resolved to move very swiftly so that he would eventually catch up with the tortoise and even overtake him before the tortoise reaches the finish line. At this point however, it was impossible for the hare to catch up with the tortoise. Despite the hare’s speed of running and determination to win the race, the tortoise was too far-gone and close to the end, so the tortoise won the race and the hare became second.

The Moral of the Story

The moral lessons drawn from the fable of the hare and the tortoise are unending. However, the few select that cannot fail to be mentioned include;

It is not definite that the race is to be won by the person who moves faster. This means that in any race in life, the fastest person or the person with an advantage is not necessarily the automatic winner of the race. In most cases, races are won by the smart participants and the ones who are not willing to take anything for granted. The willingness to do your best despite the odds is what earns your rightful place or position in the race.

Secondly, pride normally clouds our judgment and eventually leads to an epic fall. When we face our battles with pride, the pride will make us overlook different possible outcomes that may occur. It is therefore important to remain focused and not let our pride get the better of us.

Additionally, underestimating our opponents is the worst mentality any competitor can have because this will keep us from doing our best. A smart opponent will take advantage of the underestimation put against them to prove themselves and this is how winners are made. It is said that sometimes being underestimated is the most important thing as then nobody will know what to expect from you.

It is also important to note that we should not underestimate ourselves. The tortoise despite knowing that the hare was faster than him was confident that he had just the same chance of winning, as did the hare. This made him open to competing favorably and in the end, earned the tortoise his victory.

Conclusion

The fable between the hare and the tortoise communicates to us to be careful because our opponents will always spot our moments of weakness to surpass us. The hare was not careful to note that the tortoise would capitalize on his sleep to pass him and win the race, which is why he took a nap and the tortoise overtook him. When competing, there is no time to relax because the battle is only over when we have crossed the finish line.