Fractured Fables
October 31, 2007
When we were young, we heard the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. It was a fable that aimed to teach us never to give up and/or that slow and steady wins the race. Just a good-hearted tale of the underdog coming out on top because he believed in himself.
What a load of crap.
In what race would any mate sit down merely because he was in the lead? Or sleep for that matter! The only reason the tortoise won is because the hare slacked off! If anything, the moral of this fable should be ’slackers lose’ or something along those lines. But to take it a step further and say that ’slow and steady’ wins the race is to take it a bit far. The tortoise did not win because he was slow and steady, but merely because he was persistent. He took advantage of the hare’s laziness and pulled out a win. So do not sugar coat the fractured fable with catchy slogans as ’slow and steady’ when it is clearly inaccurate. Something like ‘persistence pays’ would work better, but what it really came down to is the fact that the hare was an arrogant character who slacked off because he thought he could win the race easily. After all, had the hare maintained his momentum, he would have beat the tortoise no matter how much persistence the slow tart had!
Tags: The Tortoise and the Hare, fable, underdog, persistence
Comments
Got something to say?
