The Tortoise & The Hare

The Tortoise & The Hare

by Aesop (620-560 BC)

Once upon a time there was a hare (rabbit) who boasted (chvastal sa) how he could run faster than anyone else. He always teased (robil si strandu) the tortoise (korytnačka) for its slowness. Then one day, the angry tortoise answered back, “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying you’re swift, but even you can be beaten!” The hare squealed with laughter (kričal od smiechu).

“Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there’s nobody in the world that can win against me, I’m so speedy. Now, why don’t you try?”

Annoyed (mrzutý) by such bragging (chvastanie), the tortoise accepted the challenge (výzva). A course was planned, and the next day at dawn (svitanie) they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned (zíval) sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off (išiel pomaly). When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. “Take your time!” he said. “I’ll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute.”

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and looked around, looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch (eat) some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance (pohľad) at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise’s face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring (chrápal) happily.

The sun started to sink below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely (nablízku) a meter from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise, a speck (bod) in the distance, and away he dashed (ran). He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling (sticking out), and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he’d be first at the finish. But the hare’s last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and embarrassed, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was smiling at him.

“Slow and steady wins the race!” he said.

 

 

The difference between a turtle and a tortoise:

 

Turtles can swim and usually have flippers (plutvy).

Tortoises live on land and usually have feet.