Every day, the tortoise took a walk around the lake.
He enjoyed walking very much.
While walking one day, the tortoise heard a sound like the wind.
A hare rushed by and the tortoise fell over on his back.
"Ha-ha! What are you doing here?" teased the hare.
"You should be careful of others on the road," scolded the tortoise.
"Slowpokes shouldn't be on the road," said the hare.
A fox walked by.
He helped the tortoise turn over.
"What are you two talking about?" asked the fox.
"I think that slow walkers shouldn't use the road.
Don't you agree, Fox?" asked the hare.
"The road is for everyone," said the fox.
"I'll tell you what," challenged the hare.
"Let's have a race.
The winner decides who can stay on the road and who can't."
"You're on," agreed the tortoise. "Let's race!"
They decided to race to the other side of the forest.
The fox agreed to be the judge.
The next day, all of the animals gathered in a crowd to watch.
"It's not too late to stop the race," whispered the hare to the tortoise.
"It's obvious who is going to win."
"On your mark, get set, go!" yelled the fox.
The hare ran ahead of the tortoise.
Then he ran back.
"Are you still here?" he teased.
"This is going to take forever," he sighed.
After running for a little while, the hare looked back but could not see the tortoise.
So he stopped and looked around.
He noticed some carrots beside the road.
"Oh, my favorite!" said the hare.
The tortoise kept his eyes on the path ahead.
"Come on, Tortoise! You can do it!" encouraged the other animals.
The hare ate a lot of carrots.
"Oh, I'm so full," he groaned.
"I'm just going to take a little nap.
The tortoise is still way behind me."
Meanwhile the tortoise kept walking steadily.
He never gave up. He never stopped.
Sometime later, the hare awoke from his nap.
He thought he was still far ahead.
He began to skip, trot, jump, and dance.
When he got close to the finish line, he couldn't believe his eyes!
The tortoise was far ahead!
"That's impossible!" cried the hare.
He ran as fast as he could, but he couldn't catch up.
The tortoise crossed the finish line.
He won the race!
The tortoise looked at the hare.
"Slow but steady wins the race," he said.