Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Whenever we say ‘slow and steady wins the race’, the famous tale concerning the race between the hare and the tortoise comes to our mind. The tortoise was a slow pacer but steady in his approach. Whereas the hare was a fast runner known for his jumps and leaps. One day when he saw the tortoise moving so slowly, he laughed at him. But the tortoise said, My dear don’t mock at me. I am sure to reach my destination and that too well in time. The hare boasted, but I can beat you by reaching the destined point much earlier than you. The tortoise said, please don’t be overconfident. You can only jump and jump and finally hide in the bushes. Alright come on, let us have a race, the hare challenged. The tortoise was confindent of his steadiness, so he willingly accepted the challenge. They fixed the starting point and the point of destination far ahead on the hill.

The race started. The tortoise moved slowly with his usual pace. But the hare jumped and had long leaps and was able to cover half of the distance very soon. He looked back and saw that the tortoise was far behind. He guessed that with his present pace, the tortoise may take hours to catch him. The hare was tired and so finding a shady tree, he preferred to take rest for a while, hoping that even after the rest, he will be able to cover the remaining distance in a short while. But soon he had a sound sleep.

The tortoise moved on incessantly with his usual slow pace and reached the point where the hare was sleeping. He looked at the hare and smiled but without waiting or awakening him, moved on. After a few hours, the hare woke up. He ran upwards and when he reached the destination point, he was surprised to see that the tortoise had already reached there and won the race.

The story may be for the tiny tots but the message that it contains applies to all of us. Like the tortoise we must be steady in our efforts, no matter at what pace.