The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never been beaten," he said, "when I run at full speed, no one is faster than me."

The tortoise said quietly, "I will race with you." "That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you the whole way."

The race started. The hare darted¹ almost out of sight at once. He soon stopped and lay down to have a nap.

The tortoise plodded² on and on. When the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise was near the finish line, and that he had lost the race.

兔子向动物们夸耀他的速度，“我从来没有失败过，”他说，“当我奔跑时，没有人比我更快。”

乌龟平静地说：“我要与你比赛。”“真是笑话，我可以边玩边和你赛跑。”兔子说。

比赛开始了，一眨眼工夫，兔子已经跑得不见了踪影，但是他觉得自己跑得快，对比赛掉以轻心，躺在路边睡着了。

乌龟慢腾腾地却持续不停地走，当兔子一觉醒来，他看到乌龟已经快到终点线了。兔子输了比赛。