The Tortoise and The Hare

The story of the Tortoise and the Hare is also a very common story not only in Africa but in Asia and Europe too. This particular story has a lot of lessons and some very wise proverbs are gotten from it.

The tortoise was a very slow animal while the Hare was very fast. The Hare mocked the Tortoise saying it would take the Tortoise ages to get anywhere. When the Tortoise heard this, he challenged the Hare to a race. The Hare, was confident that the slow Tortoise could not win him in any race any day but he agreed to it for the fun of it.
The Fox was asked to be the judge of the race so he marked out the starting and finishing points. The Fox then flagged off the race and immediately, the Hare took off and covered half the distance in no time. In order to ridicule the Tortoise, the Hare took some refreshments and took a nap. The Tortoise, on the other hand, kept going slowly and steadily and soon reached where the Hare had stopped to sleep but the Hare was deep in sleep. When the Hare finally woke up, the Tortoise was just inches away from the finish line. The Hare then ran the fastest he could, but he could not beat the Tortoise to the finish line.

This story teaches many lessons: be careful of hubris, you can do whatever you put your mind to doing, and distractions can be costly. The Hare was confident in his ability and discredited the Tortoise before they even started the race. He could still have easily won the race had he been focused and consistent, but he let his speed get to his head and gave in to distractions. The Tortoise on the other hand did not let the Hare's arrogance make him think less of himself and he remained focused and diligent throughout the race giving him a deserved victory. The race is not for the swift,  slow and steady wins the race!