The Hare and The Tortoise – revisited

by Hugh Sutherland

Thanks to that great Ancient Greek reporter, Aesop, we all know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare and the moral that is drawn from it – ‘slow and steady wins the race!’

Or do we? Do we know the story behind the story? Did Aesop? Was he part of a conspiracy to conceal the true facts and the real moral of the story, or was he just a hack who reported only on what he saw and then drew the obvious, if erroneous, conclusion?

We don’t know. What we do know is what he reported. It made all the news media at the time and is a story that is often told and retold. It helped make Aesop a household name throughout the civilized world and ensured that his fame resounded down the ages. It was better than winning a Pulitzer prize.

And yet it perpetrated a foul calumny on one of the protagonists.

The story that Aesop recounted was simple, yet compelling and instructive. The Tortoise challenged the Hare to a race. The Hare accepted the challenge. Everybody was amused. The Tortoise did not stand a chance – he was the slowest of animals; the Hare the swiftest. On the day, the Hare, secure in its superiority, frolicked at the starting line with its friends while the Tortoise determinedly set off for the finishing post. Despite warnings from the spectators the Hare continued fooling around while the Tortoise inexorably trundled nearer and nearer to the finishing line. When at last the Hare deigned to enter the race the Tortoise was already very close to victory. With the cheers of its supporters in its ears the Hare bounded away, swiftly closing the gap between itself and its opponent. But, in its arrogance, it had misjudged. The Hare was one step behind the Tortoise as it breasted the tape. The Tortoise, against all odds, had won. Why? Because it had fixed its mind on a single objective and had set out to methodically attain its goal. The Hare, on the other hand, had allowed its conceit to blind it to the necessity for good preparation and execution.

As Aesop put it, ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’

And so, there we have it, a simple story soon told, from which an enduring lesson can be learnt. The Tortoise has gone down in history as a positive role model, the Hare as the antithesis.

If we left it there, nobody would be any the wiser. Would not understand a greater truth and certainly would not know how one of the most visible and significant landmarks of this world came to be.

So what really happened on that fateful day?

Let us go back to the beginning.

It is true. As Aesop stated, the Tortoise took his place at the starting line while the Hare chatted to her friends, ignoring the preparations for starting the race. The Tortoise, solitary and determined, fixed his gaze on the far horizon, beyond which lay the finishing line. The Hare did not give the line a second’s thought, being too engrossed in exchanging the latest gossip with the large band of admirers gathered around her.

At this point it is necessary to provide some background to the race, details that Aesop, whether through design or ignorance, neglected to give.

The Tortoise was no ordinary tortoise. He was a leader of the Shellback Coalition, an organization founded to promote a positive image of all tortoises and turtles. It had long been a source of dissatisfaction among shellbacks that they were derided for being so slow on land and so they had recently launched a campaign to ban any use of language that equated slowness with tortoises. The Tortoise, a particularly ardent member of the Coalition, took the campaign one step further. He determined to show the world that tortoises could rise above their handicaps when it came to speed over the ground. Accordingly, he trained solidly for three months until he was at least a meter faster than any of his peers and then felt confident enough to challenge the swiftest of animals, the Hare.

The Hare had been startled and amused by the Tortoise’s challenge. She belonged to a species that was admired for its athletic prowess and other activities that the rabbit family is known for, and did not have any hang-ups about public perception. At first she was inclined to decline the challenge, but she was at heart a kind person and could see that the race was of great importance to the tortoise. So she accepted.

Because Aesop left us no description of the ground over which the race was run, subsequent commentators have assumed that it was a short distance event run over a smooth, flat track which was visible to all the spectators over its entire length. This was not the case.

As was the prerogative of the challenger, the Tortoise elected to run on ground of his own choosing; ground that was more suited to his style than that of the Hare. He also chose to run a middle distance race, as this, too, suited his running style, which was more one of stamina than of speed. This meant that the race track was a long one, consisting of rough ground surrounded by rocky outcrops. There was a dog-leg halfway which took the track behind the rocks, effectively obscuring the runners from the spectators for part of the race before they reappeared just before the long straight to finishing post.

This, then, was the situation when the Baboon, the head of sports in the Animal Kingdom, gave the signal for the race to start.

The Tortoise got off to a good start, showing a fair turn of speed as he dug in his feet and set off on his bid to make athletics history. The Hare was swapping tips on hair conditioner with a friend and did not even notice that the race had started.

Unknown to the contestants, the organisers or, indeed, its own parents, a young tortoise, caught up by the swell of Tortoise Pride that this great contest had engendered in every shellback chest, had earlier made its way to a distant rocky outcrop, from which it intended to cheer on its hero and role model, the Tortoise. It was now standing on its hind legs hoping to catch a glimpse of its icon as he thundered past.

But a tortoise is not meant to stand on its hind legs. The weight of it shell soon pulls it over, which is what happened to the young tortoise. With a sickening thud it landed on the ground, spread-eagled upside down on its shell. This is one of the worst things that can happen to a tortoise. It is helpless. It cannot use its legs to lever itself into an upright position because they are too short and stubby. It cannot use its body to inch along the ground because the shell is not flexible. In short, it can do nothing but lie back and worry about the vulnerability of such a position. The young tortoise had two immediate fears.

The sun. Climbing steadily into the heavens, the sun blazed down on the young tortoise’s exposed torso, threatening to roast it within a very short time. And to make matters infinitely worse, climbing even higher into the heavens was the creature that really relishes a roasted tortoise.

The eagle. Searching as it soared; searching for its midday meal. It would not be long before it spied the young tortoise.

This was a terrifying sight for the young tortoise as he felt his temperature rising with the heat of the sun. But he did not panic. Help, he knew, would soon be at hand. He had nothing to fear.

Because his hero was drawing ever nearer. Despite the speed at which he was moving, the Tortoise was bound to hear the youngster’s piteous cries and stop to help him. He would be back on his feet in no time and his hero would still be able to outdistance the Hare.

Meanwhile, back at the starting line the Hare was laughing at the antics of some March hares, glad that she had been born in April. The roar of the spectators as they watched the Tortoise plod furiously into the distance did not affect her in the least.

The Tortoise finally came abreast of the rocks where the youngster lay, crying out for assistance. He looked at the spread-eagled young tortoise and heard his pleas for help.

But the Tortoise was a Shellback with a mission, a mission too important to be endangered by one small tortoise. The hopes of a species rode on his shell; he had a duty to remain focused, come what may.

And so, with a few muttered words to the effect that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, the Tortoise neatly side-stepped the youngster and carried on his way.

Now the young tortoise truly knew fear and despair and redoubled his cries for help.

But now there was nobody to hear him.

Back at the starting line the Hare was at last taking an interest in the race. Checking that she had her lucky rabbit’s foot, which she always carried with her, she began some unlimbering exercises. Suddenly, a roar exploded from the spectators. The Tortoise had emerged from behind the rocks and could be seen heading fixedly for the finishing post.

‘Bye, now, I simply must run!’ the Hare called to her admirers. She accelerated in a puff of dust and was soon just a small speck on the horizon as she neared the dog-leg in the track and disappeared behind the rocky outcrops. The spectators watched with bated breath, waiting to see her burst from behind the rocks and effortlessly overhaul the plodding tortoise. The spectators waited … and waited … and waited.

No Hare.

Ignoring all else around him, the Tortoise grimly lumbered towards his goal – the finishing line. The spectators were aghast. There was no sign of the Hare and the Tortoise was slogging his way ever closer to victory.

And then, suddenly, the Hare appeared from behind the rocks. Everyone expected her to blaze past the Tortoise with her normal explosive running, but it was not to be. She appeared tired, as though the effort was too much for her. She ran sluggishly, belying her reputation as the most energetic and swiftest creature on the planet.

Still, for all her weariness it looked like she might yet beat the Tortoise to the finishing line. It was close, very close, but the unanimous decision of the judges was that the Tortoise won by a neck. He had made history and instilled his people with Shellback Pride. Many eons later that race is still spoken of by the people of the world. The Tortoise is lauded for his tenacity and steadfastness, while the Hare … well, she is derided as a frivolous creature without two brain cells to rub together.

But what happened to the Hare? Why did she disappear behind the rocks for so long and why was she so tired when she finally emerged?

Remember the young tortoise? Just like the Tortoise, we left him lying on his back in a very precarious position indeed. The sun was now grilling him and the eagle was sniffing the wind, realizing that lunch was being prepared below.

The youngster was almost hoarse with desperation when the Hare rounded the rocks. And now I must tell you something about the Hare that Aesop never saw fit to mention. Frivolous she might have been, stupid even, but never cold-hearted. She was one of the warmest-hearted creatures on earth and the cries of a fellow creature in anguish or pain would never go unanswered, no matter what the cost.

So, hearing the sobs of the terrified youngster, she immediately halted and sought him out. She was a small hare, the tortoise was already quite a size, so it took a while and a great deal of effort to right him. But at last she achieved it and the grateful youngster, none the worse for his ordeal, trundled off looking for somewhere to hide from the eagle until the aroma of grilled tortoise wore off.

The Hare paused for a while to get her breath back and then set off in pursuit of the Tortoise. But she was worn out by her heroic actions and could just not catch up, leaving her the loser and going down in history as a Loser.

It is a measure of the hare’s character that she never spoke of what happened behind the rocks that day, not to explain why she lost the race, nor to gain recognition for her selfless deed. The young tortoise tried to expose the Tortoise’s selfish action and gain credit for the Hare, but vested interests soon muzzled him and the world was left with Aesop’s inadequate tale by which to judge the protagonist’s deeds and draw the obvious conclusion. “Slow and steady wins the race.’

This story leaves one with a sense of outrage. It all seems so unfair, doesn’t it? The true hero of the story is pilloried. She receives no recognition for her kind action, for her caring nature. It’s just not right!

Ah, but there you are wrong my friend. Very wrong. Look unto the heavens and you will feel better. Look into the night sky and you will see the Hare’s reward.

She lived to a great age, avoiding the topic of running and races, and not feeling too well disposed towards the shellback species, although she never held her notoriety against any individual tortoise. And then one day her soul just quietly slipped away, the creatures of the world mourning her passing deeply because she had truly been a kind and loving person.

As the owl who officiated at her interment said between mouthfuls, ‘The Great Spirit has need of her, she was too good to remain here on Earth.’

The rest of the animals agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment, so imagine their surprise and joy when night fell and they beheld their beloved friend once again.

As the full moon rose into the heavens they gazed up in awe at the Hare, esconced on its gleaming face. Placed there by the Great Spirit so that she could always look down at the small creatures of this world and give them a sense of hope and comfort.

At the next full moon, go outside and look up into the heavens. And salute the Hare, who gazes so benignly down on us.

Oh yes, and remember what the true moral of this story is:

‘It matters not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.’

 

 

Footnotes

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