The Tortoise and the Hare

A hare jeered at a tortoise for the slowness of his pace. But he laughed and said that he would run against her and beat her any day she would name. "Come on," said the hare, "you shall soon see what my feet are made of."

So it was agreed that they should start at once. The tortoise went off jogging along, without a moment's stopping, at his usual steady pace. The hare, treating the whole matter very lightly, said she would first take a little nap, and that she should soon overtake the tortoise. Meanwhile the tortoise plodded on and the hare, oversleeping herself, arrived at the goal, only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.

There are several possible morals for this fable: