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The True Lessons From “The Tortoise and the Hare”
As a kid, we receive a basic lesson from a lot of our stories.
A lot of us as kids either read or were read to the story “The Tortoise and the Hare”. We were taught that the lesson to take from this story was the idea that slow and steady wins the race. What a load of nonsense!
Okay, it isn’t complete nonsense.
When you actually dig into what slow and steady means, it isn’t nonsense. When you directly relate those words to the concept of a race, it sure can be but that isn’t the point. I’ve often taken things too literally, too much at face value.
When they say that slow and steady wins the race, they’re really just saying that being consistent is what will see you through. This is actually a good lesson to be learned but it isn’t necessarily what a kid is going to take from these words. If you want a kid to understand the lesson, don’t just slap “slow and steady wins the race” on them, explain what exactly that means.
What’s the real lesson?
So, that’s not a terrible lesson but it isn’t really the lesson that this story focuses on. After all, that implies that the story was more about the tortoise than the hare. I’m sorry but all the action and even most of the story revolves around the rabbit.
Seems to me that the lesson should come directly from the hare. I don’t know, maybe they don’t have an easy line to slap down for the actual lesson to be learned. I’d think it could be something like “Talent only gets you so far,” or “Don’t be lazy!”. Neither of those has the ring that “Slow and steady wins the race” holds though, do they?
That aside, I can think of three lessons that would make more sense to teach a kid when reading this story.
Don’t be arrogant.
When you read the story, the hare is really cocky. To an extent, it’s understandable. Hares are naturally fast and tortoises are naturally slow. The hare has this in the bag! Of course, this story highlights that no amount of natural advantage will beat consistency.
Well, it won’t if you’re so cocky you keep taking naps while in a race! It’s never…
