The Hare and The Tortoise

We are no longer familiar for this fable. When I was a child, I was told not to learn the arrogant rabbit which makes fool of the tortoise. I was also taught not to look down upon those who are weaker or unlucky than us. Anyway, as I grow older, I have different thoughts and inspirations about this fable.

The tortoise neither represents weak nor unlucky. He is a creature with great wisdom. He is a valiant tortoise, who manages to win a race despite his physical limitations. Although being teased by the hare, he accepted the challenge and performed his best in the race. He brings a message that “no matter what the odds and what seem to be impossible tasks, if we keep going we will get to the target”. It shows that constant small steps of improvement every day brings great changes.

The hare presents a negative example: he makes the foolish mistake of assuming he can win the race without even trying. As a result of his overconfidence, he loses the race. The big failure of the hare is to take advantage of his natural abilities. He thinks he will definitely wins the race easily, thus he is not alert of what is going on. This fable proves that many people who have good natural abilities but could not succeed in the end, because they are ruined by idleness and arrogant.

The slow movement of tortoise reminds me a girl in my class. This girl does her works slower than the other students. Sometimes most of the students finished their writing but this girl just take out her exercise book from her bag. I am sometimes lost patient for her slowness in action. But there is something good about her. Her writing is nice and neat, and she will definitely submit her work the next day. I think this girl captures the philosophy of tortoise, steady wins the race. In the meanwhile, I should always encourage her to do her work within the hours as a way to train her well.

“The hare and the tortoise” captures the philosophies of success. Instead of getting full of ourselves and stopping like the hare, we should keep trying our best until the end like the tortoise.

Are you a hare or a tortoise?
(The drawing below is from a student in my school.)