Once upon a sunny day in a quiet meadow, a boastful rabbit called out to his friends, “Will you all please be quiet! Listen to me. I can run faster than anyone.”
“Maybe so,” said a tortoise who was listening nearby. “But slow and steady wins the race.”
“Let’s have a race,” said the rabbit. The other animals agreed. “The hare shall be the judge. A pair of eyes will be sure to keep the runners to the road,” said he. So a course was fixed upon, and a start was made.
Up flew the rabbit, as if about to carry all before him. The tortoise started off at a slow plod and soon fell far behind. The rabbit stopped and, looking back at the tortoise, he thought he would have a nap and allow the tortoise to catch up.
“This is a good place for a snooze,” said he, and he lay down to have a rest. The tortoise plodding on soon came to the place where the rabbit lay asleep. But the rabbit slept on, and the tortoise never stopped to wonder whether the rabbit was not playing some trick on him, but plodded on and plodded on.
When the rabbit awoke from his nap, he looked at his watch. “How loose the tortoise must be far behind,” thought he. Then off he went, but found the tortoise just near the winning-post, and could not run up in time to save the race.
Then, the tortoise said: “Slow but steady progress wins the race.”