This version uses idioms.
The Hare was once bragging
(talking big) about how fast he could run to the all the other
animals. "I have never been
beaten, I challenge any one here to race with me."
(He was
looking down his nose at the
all the animals)
The Tortoise said
quietly (he was no
show off), "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke,
(you
kill me)" said the Hare;
"I could dance round you
all the way." (Get real
I could run
circles around you,
you are
a far cry
from any animal that could beat me)
"Keep your boasting (and being a big wig) till you've
run the race," answered the
Tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed
and a start was made. The Hare darted (to beat the band)
almost out of sight at once , but soon
stopped and, to show his
contempt (he was really
looking down his nose) for the Tortoise,
he lay down to have a nap. (The Hare thought that he would give the Tortoise a
bit of a
leg up.)The Tortoise
continued in his slow and steady way
(He could really
stick to it.), and when the Hare woke
from his nap,
he saw the Tortoise just near the finish line and could not run
fast enough to win the race. Then the Tortoise said:
"Slow and steady
wins the race."
Some say that "slow and steady wins the race" is the Moral of the Story but
there is another Moral of the Story if you think about the following:
It would have been nice if the Hare came up to the Tortoise hat in hand and said, "I shouldn't have been such a show off. " But the Hare never did do that. The real lesson to be learned from this story is what the Tortoise didn't do. The Tortoise could have made fun of the Hare and call him a brick short. But the Hare already had egg in the face. It was true that the Hare was a show off and nobody likes a a show off. But mark my word nothing good comes from calling someone full of hot air. He could have said that the joke is on you and then there might have been blow up. It's always better better to behave in a way that doesn't give people hard feelings and not make fun of them.
The original version of the story without idioms.
Idioms in this story:
big wig
a brick short
a far cry
kill me
leg up
look down your nose
make fun of
mark your word
hat in hand
hot air
joke is on you
get real
to beat the band
egg in the face
show off
stick to it
talk big
blow up
no hard feelings
circles around you
The Tortoise and the Hare Story
The Hare was once bragging
about how fast he could run to the all the other
animals. "I have never been
beaten,I challenge any one here to race with me."
The Tortoise said
quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the Hare;
"I could dance round you
all the way."
"Keep your boasting till you've
run the race," answered the
Tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed
and a start was made. The Hare darted
almost out of sight at once, but soon
stopped and, to show his
contempt for the Tortoise, he lay down to have a nap.
The Tortoise
continued in his slow and steady way, and when the Hare woke
from his nap,
he saw the Tortoise just near the finish line and could not run
fafast enough to win the race. Then said the Tortoise:
"Slow and steady
wins the race."