THE RACE BETWEEN MR. TORTOISE AND MR. HARE----ADEDAYO ADEOSUN

Very long time ago, in the animals and birds’ kingdom, life was peaceful and full of fun. There were more than enough to eat and drink. The weather was very good, as there was nothing like earthquake, tsunami, drought or any other natural disaster, as we hear or experience nowadays. There were no civil strives, wars, religious conflict, ritual killings and so forth.

The animals and birds were usually very happy to do their work and they had plenty of time to relax. They were able to organise different forms of competitions like jumping among the monkeys and kangaroos, singing among the various types of birds.

After one of such competitions, other animals were praising Mr. Hare for being a fast-running animal; commending him for his past achievements. Mr. Tortoise was listening as accolades were being poured on Mr. Hare. He therefore challenged Mr. Hare for a marathon race.

“Are you out of your mind, Tortoise?” asked Mr. Hare.

“I’m not out of my mind. I’ll win, if you and I compete in a marathon race.” replied Mr. Tortoise.

The other animals and birds that were listening therefore planned to organise a marathon between the two them. Such a competition can be described as a mismatch, when comparing the two competitors.

Whatever the case might be, there would always be supporters, no matter how small the number might be, especially when judging the calibres and pedigree of the two runners.

A date, time and venue were fixed for the great race between the two animals. Wide publicity was given to it. If it were nowadays, adverts would have been placed in all the media – print and electronic. Media houses such as the CNN, AL-JAZEERA, BBC, VOA, NTA, FRCN, Radio O.Y.O and so forth would have covered the event live. Such an epic event would have been sponsored by corporate organisations such as MTN, glo, MALTINA, MILO and others.

Anyway, on the appointed date, match officials were on hand to see to a hitch-free race, after the routes had been well mapped out. The two competitors were called out and were hailed by their respective supporters.

“On your mark, Set, Go” the umpire got the race underway. Within a tinkle of an eye, expectedly, Mr. Hare had sped off; leaving behind Mr. Tortoise, crawling.  After a while, Mr. Hare suddenly realised that he did not need to dissipate so much energy, after all, he was competing with a slow-moving animal – Mr Tortoise.

“For wasting so much energy for nothing, I’ll stop and rest and then continue the race” Mr. Hare said to himself, reassuringly. He found a very nice shade and decided to rest. Before he knew it, he fell asleep. The cool breeze under the tree aided his sleep.

In the meantime, Mr. Tortoise continued the race. He later met Mr. Hare under the tree where he was sleeping. By the time he got there, Mr. Hare was already snoring. Mr. Tortoise quietly crawled pass.

After a long while, Mr. Tortoise showed up from a distance sweating profusely. His supporters, few as they were, started hailing him. “Finish up, Finish up….” they were shouting.

At long last, Mr. Tortoise crossed the finishing line and therefore won the race. All the prizes at stake for the competition were given to him. Almost all the animals that were previously supporting Mr. Hare decamped and were singing praises of Mr. Tortoise. Trumpets, drums and other musical instruments accompanied the victory songs in praise and honour of Mr. Tortoise.

It was the noise of Mr. Tortoise’s victory that woke up Mr. Hare where he was sleeping. By the time got to the finishing line, he met his supporters carrying shoulder high, Mr. Tortoise.

He left the venue in shame, dejected because he had disappointed himself and his numerous fans.

MORAL LESSONS THAT CAN BE LEARNT FROM THE FOLKTALE   

1.      One should never underrate the power of one’s opponent, no matter how powerful one may feel one is.

2.      Rest is very sweet only after work.

3.      One should learn how to persevere, no matter the degree of challenge one may be facing.

4.      Failure is an orphan, and success is a child of all.

5.      If one is doing something well, one should try to keep it up, realizing the fact that the very moment one relaxes, another person(s) will take one’s position.