The tortoise and the hare - A story with a twist for kids
Do you know the well known story that Aesopus wrote about the tortoise and the hare that raced against each other?
- Who won the race?
- Why did he win?
- What lesson do you learn from this fable?
Well, let me tell you something. In a dark forest far far away there is some whispering that tells the story of a new generation hare that was a little of a snob and very arrogant.
All the animals living in this forest knew the story told by Aesopus about the lazy hare and the tortoise that just kept on going. The new hare generation just laughed at this story. One of them was named Schumi and he was a big believer in rabbit rights. He hated Aesopus for giving the hares such a bad name and one day he made a decision.
"The lies that Aesopus told must stop, I will show everybody that us hares actually fit in the 'Schumacher class'" and that I am better than anybody living in this forest."
For those of you who do not know, Michael Schumacher was a world class race driver that won a lot of races and trophees and could drive very fast, so Schumi liked comparing himself to this legend. He just forgot that even tho Schumacher was a legend and very well known, he was also a humble and friendly man.
Hare went over to tortoise and told him he wants a re-match. The new generation must show everybody what they are made of.
At one o'clock the race started and Schumi started running like a Ferrari full of fire. Tortoise followed slowly and very far behind.
On his way hare got bored and he saw an animal hotel on the side of the road and decided that he will stop at this pitstop.
He walks into the bar and he sees the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. She has long eye lashes en long blond rabbit ears. Schumi is in a daze and asks "Hey you beautiful girl, do you have something to drink for a super athlete?"
Meanwhile tortoise moves forward patiently. The other animals saw Schumi so busy flirting with the girl rabbit that they encourage tortoise to keep going. "You are only two laps behind. You can do it", they all shout.
All the animals loved tortoise. He was kind and never acted as though he was better than them. Schumi always did this and also made them feel bad about themselves in many ways. He was quite the bully some times.
All the animals, even King Lion were waiting at the finishing line. There were rabbit cheerleaders that washed their tails in special shampoo and polished their nails and they were cheering for Schumi (it sure seemed that Schumi was quite a hit among the girls...)
The referee, Mr Lightning, the cheetah is very suspicious. He suspects that Schumi uses steroids and that is why he runs so fast. Mr Lightning demands a test must be done. He is also the one that is in charge of the tests and he tells the hare to come to his office right away.
It is now 2 days later and all the animals are still waiting patiently to see who wins the race. Mr Lightning and Hare is gone. The only animal that says something is the clever owl. She blinks her big eyes and says "I suspect something is going on...."
The next morning Mr Lightning is back and he looks a bit fatter than usual. He bows in front of King Lion and then he tells the animals that he has some bad news.
"Hare disappeared last night. He tested positive for steroids and was so humiliated that he left the forest and ran away as quickly as he could. He did not want to embarrass the other hares."
Slowly tortoise crossed the finishing line and all the animals cheered. They did not worry about what happened they were just happy that tortoise kept on going and finished the race.
The animals did not know that Ligning ate the hare because he was sick of his arrogance and thinking he is better than the rest and bullying some of the smaller and slower animals.
It is only the clever owl that saw Mr Lightning's round stomach and said "The one's loss is the other's gain."
Never be a snob or arrogant and think your are better than other people and belittle them. You will come to a fall quicker than you think.
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