The Tortoise and the Hare
The Tortoise and the Hare Everyone knows the story of the tortoise and the hare. For it has been told for many years. In “The Tortoise and the Hare”, the hare mocks the slow-moving tortoise or turtle for being a slow-moving turtle so to speak. The tortoise takes on the challenge of racing the hare and announces that he would win the race because of his determination, not his speed. The hare finds this quite humorous and accepts the challenge. After the race begins, the tortoise plods along determinedly and the hare runs off ahead. He gets so far ahead of the tortoise; he decides to take a nap. The hare falls asleep too long and awakes to the tortoise crossing the finish line. As in several other fables by Aesop, there is a moral certainty about the lesson it is teaching. In the fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”, the writers’ concentration isn’t on the Tortoise’s confident in taking on a bully such as the Hare, but emphasizes the foolishness of the Hare’s over-confidence. Growing up hearing this story, I now realize that many people have good natural abilities in which they are ruined by self-destruction. We underestimate others abilities in regards to race, size, and status; not knowing what our opponent is capable of. Just as in “The Tortoise and the Hare”, the hare from the start is confident of his ability to defeat the tortoise because of his characteristics and abilities. Thinking his hasting would cause him to get ahead, the hare finds himself behind. A wise man once told me “haste makes waste” and in this case it is true. I believe this is a possible moral to the story along with others. As a kid, I was led to believe the moral to the story is “slowly and steady wins the race”. I think this moral is completely foolishness. Rarely does going slow win any races, but is a good way to be careful. However, that is not what races are about. This particular moral would not be effective in guiding an individual’s actions or beliefs. In regards to races,