Even I couldn’t get there in a moment. At the end of the field I looked over my shoulder and saw that the tortoise had hardly gotten started. I’d say his top speed was about one mile per week. I had no doubt at all that victory was mine.
I crossed another three fields, and at last I got to the hill and I started to make my way up. It was tougher going now, and my legs were starting to feel less springy than usual. I took another look back and saw that the tortoise was only half way across the first field. I decided to stop for a breather and a bit of a chuckle.
How did the fox ever think that the old cabbage-head could beat me? Doesn’t he know that I’m speedy by name, speedy by nature? And I thought he was smart!
In fact, just to show him how confident I was of winning, I sat down. “Give the old lumber-along a sporting chance,” I said to myself. “And when he gets near, I’ll dash off again. That will make the race more entertaining.”
I stretched out and chewed on a long piece of juicy grass. I knew one of the beady-eyed crows would see me and report back to the crowd how I was so far ahead that I could afford to take things easy. In fact, I thought it wouldn’t do any harm just to close my eyes for a moment or two. My eyelids certainly were feeling a bit heavy after running up hill under a hot sun. In fact, I thought that 40 winks would refresh me, and I would set off all the faster when I got going again.
Oh! How pleasant it was to lie down on such a glorious day. The grasshoppers were singing and the breeze was rustling ever so gently in the trees. Soon I was dreaming of victory. They would be talking about this on the farm for weeks. But dear, dear me. I must have well and truly dozed off, because when I woke up, I shivered. The sun was going down, and the air was a bit cooler. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was, and then I recalled the race. I stood up and scanned the hill below for sight of the tortoise. Perhaps he had just done the logical thing and given up and gone back home. So I started to jog up to the top of the hill, and then run gently back down again. Still no sign of my rival.
It was almost dark when I got back to the farm gate and the finishing line. The cows had gone off to be milked, and only the fox, the badger, and the rat were waiting for me.
“Hello guys,” I said. “What’s my prize?”
“What’s your prize?” Said the badger. “Your prize is that we are working for the fox for a month.”
“GRRRR!” said the rat, really quite angrily. “You’ve well and truly let us down. You might be Speedy by name, but you’re dead lazy by nature. Beaten by a 100 year old slow-coach. It’s disgusting, truly disgusting.”
Only the old fox had a sly grin on his face.
“Thank you hare,” he said. “You’ve proved me right, as I usually am. The tortoise plodded in home just over an hour ago. It only goes to show that slow and steady always wins the race.”
So now you know all about the one and only time that I came less than first in a race. Of course you shouldn’t go supposing that the tortoise is faster than me. It was just a one-off kind of disaster. I mean, oversleeping like that? It could have happened to anyone. I’m still the fastest creature on the farm – and don’t let anyone tell you different.
Well I must dash. No time to hang around chatting like this. Catch you later!
0
Reviews (0)