╳ The Tortoise And The Hare

Aesop's Fables or ‘Aesopica’ refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. His fables are some of the most well known in the world and remain a popular choice for the moral education of children. The famous story of the race between the tortoise and the hare is best known today for teaching us the moral that "slow and steady wins the race." The foolish hare takes a nap during the race with the tortoise, and as a result the tortoise, who keeps plodding along, slow and steady, is able to reach the finish line first and so wins the race.

In his 1867 version George Fyler Townsend tells us the story thus:
 A Hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: “Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race.” The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue.
 
The moral? Slow but steady wins the race. The element of choosing the fox as judge in the story is not always familiar to modern readers, but it is a motif commonly found in traditional versions of the story, going back to the ancient Greek prose version of the story.

This story remains one of the most popular Aesop's fables today because it seems to offer a positive hero - the valiant tortoise, who manages, despite physical limitations, wins the race against long odds. In ancient times, however, the emphasis of Aesop's fables was usually not on presenting a positive hero, but instead on presenting a negative example, showing the bad things that can happen to someone who makes a foolish mistake. The hare provides a clearly negative example: he makes the foolish mistake of assuming he can win the race without even trying and, as a result of his overconfidence, he loses the race. If the hare had not made this mistake, the tortoise, for all its slowness and steadiness, would not have stood a chance. So, in an ancient Greek version of the story, the moral of the story emphasises the failure of the hare to take advantage of his natural abilities: The story shows that many people have good natural abilities which are ruined by idleness; on the other hand, sobriety, zeal and perseverance can prevail over.

Modern versions of the fable tend to emphasise the ‘heroism’ of the tortoise, but in a traditional understanding of Aesop's fables, it is the ‘foolishness’ of the hare that is the crux of the story, teaching the lesson through a negative example; and I think we agree because pride always comes before a fall.

The illustration, 'De Lieure & de la Tortuë' (1578) is a beautiful etching and engraving by Marcus Gheeraerts, from 'Esbatement moral des animaux' by Peeter Heyns, published by Philippe Galle in Antwerp