THERE WAS ONCE a wise young tortoise who read in an ancient book about a tortoise who had beaten a hare in a race. He read all the other books he could find but in none of them was there any record of a hare who had beaten a tortoise. The wise young tortoise came to the natural conclusion that he could outrun a hare, so he set forth in search of one. In his wanderings he met many animals who were willing to race him: weasels, stoats, dachshunds, badger-boars, short-tailed field mice, and ground squirrels. But when the tortoise asked if they could outrun a hare, they all said no, they couldn’t (with the exception of a dachshund named Freddy, and nobody paid any attention to him). “Well, I can,” said the tortoise, “so there’s no use wasting my time on you.” And he continued his search.
After many days, the tortoise finally encountered a hare and challenged him to a race. “What are you going to use for legs?” asked the hare. “Never mind that,” said the tortoise. “Read this.” He showed the hare the story in the ancient book, complete with moral about the swift not always being so terribly fast. “Tosh,” said the hare. “You couldn’t go fifty feet in an hour and a half, whereas I can go fifty feet in one and a fifth seconds.” “Posh,” said the tortoise. “You probably won’t even finish second.” “We’ll see about that,” said the hare. So they marked off a course fifty feet long. All the other animals gathered around. A bull-frog set them on their marks, a gun dog fired a pistol, and they were off.
When the hare crossed the finish line, the tortoise had gone approximately eight and three-quarter inches.
MORAL: A new broom may sweep clean, but never trust an old saw.