Hare: How could you win when I am so much faster?
Tortoise: Because I ran my own race.
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Copyright © 2015 by Bryce Hedstrom
THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
1) Once upon a time there were two friends, a hare and a tortoise. The hare and the tortoise always talked about who was the
fastest. The hare, who was one of the fastest of all the animals, always said to her friend:
2) “I am faster than the dog. I am faster than the cat. And I am much faster than you, friend. You cannot beat me in a race.”
And she would always laugh at her.
3) But the tortoise would always smile, and would say to the hare:
“I know that you are very fast, friend, but I can win races too.”
Each time that they talked, the hare would laugh at her, saying to the tortoise that she was not very fast, and that she never could
win. But the tortoise insisted that, yes, she could win a race. She kept on saying that although the hare may be very fast, she could
win a race.
4) In order to resolve the situation, they decided to run a race. They decided on the route and the day for the race.
The day arrived, and they started the race.
5) The hare started to run. She ran very quickly, and in very little time she left the tortoise behind. The tortoise walked slowly.
The tortoise couldn’t see the hare, but she kept on with the race.
6) After running for a little while, the hare saw that she was much faster than the tortoise, and she said to herself:
“Why am I running? I do not need to run the whole race. I am so fast that I can win the race without running a lot. I am going to
sleep a little. Yes! I am going to take a nap!”
So the hare lay down beside the road, and in a short time she fell asleep.
7) The tortoise still couldn’t see the hare, but she kept on walking.
8) The tortoise walked slowly, but she kept on walking forward. Eventually, she arrived at the place where the tortoise was
sleeping.
The tortoise saw her, but she didn’t say anything to her, and she continued on with her race. The tortoise kept on walking for
many hours. She didn’t run, because she really wasn’t able to run, and she didn’t walk quickly, but she kept of walking.
9) Finally, the tortoise could see the end of the race. She kept walking slowly.
All of a sudden, the hare woke up from her nap. She saw the tortoise ahead. The hare ran very fast, but she was not able to win.
The tortoise arrived at the end first, and she won the race!
10) The hare couldn’t believe it. So she said to the tortoise: “I don’t understand!
She asked her: “How did you win when I am faster than you?”
The tortoise smiled at her and said to her: “I won because I know that I am not fast. I cannot run quickly, but I can walk. I knew
that I couldn’t run the race like a hare, but I could run my own race. I ran my own race, and for this reason, I won.”
The end.
Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.
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Copyright © 2015 by Bryce Hedstrom
English Embedded Reading Version #1
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36 total words
There was a hare and a tortoise.
They decided to run a race.
The hare ran very fast. The tortoise walked slowly.
The hare fell asleep.
The tortoise kept on walking.
The tortoise won the race!
English Embedded Reading Version #2
68 total words
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There was a hare and a tortoise. The hare always said:
“I am faster than you are. You cannot win.” And she would laugh.
They decided to run a race.
The hare ran very fast. The tortoise walked slowly.
The hare lay down and fell asleep.
The tortoise kept on walking.
The hare woke up, but the tortoise won the race!
10)
The hare said, “I do not understand!”
English Embedded Reading Version #3
126 total words
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There was a hare and a tortoise. The hare always said:
“I am faster than you are. You cannot win.” And she would laugh.
But the tortoise always said to the hare, “You are very fast, friend, but I can win.”
They decided to run a race.
The hare ran very fast. The tortoise walked slowly, but she kept on with the race.
The hare lay down and fell asleep.
The tortoise kept on walking.
The tortoise kept on walking for many hours.
The hare woke up and ran very fast, but the tortoise won the race!
10)
The hare said, “I do not understand!” And she asked the tortoise, “How did you win?”
The tortoise said to her, “I won because I ran my own race.”
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Copyright © 2015 by Bryce Hedstrom
English Embedded Reading Version #4
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226 total words
There were once two friends, a hare and a tortoise. The hare and the tortoise always talked. The
hare always said:
“I am faster than you are. You cannot win.” And she would laugh.
But the tortoise always said to the hare, “I know that you are very fast, friend, but I can win
races too.”
They decided to run a race. The day arrived and they started the race.
The hare ran very fast. The tortoise walked slowly, but she kept on with the race.
After running for a little while, the hare said to herself, “Why am I running? I don’t need to run
the whole race. I am going to sleep a little. Yes! I am going to take a nap!”
The hare lay down and fell asleep.
The tortoise kept on walking.
The tortoise walked slowly, but she kept on walking forward. Eventually, she arrived at the place
where the hare was sleeping. The tortoise kept on walking for many hours. She didn’t run,
because she really couldn’t run. And she didn’t walk fast, but she kept on walking.
The hare woke up and ran very fast, but the tortoise won the race!
The hare said, “I do not understand!” And she asked the tortoise, “How did you win?”
The tortoise said to her, “I won because I ran my own race.”
English Embedded Reading Version #5
479 total words
1)
There were once two friends, a hare and a tortoise. The hare and the tortoise always talked
about who was the fastest. The hare, who was one of the fastest of all the animals, always said
to her friend:
2)
“I am faster than the dog. I am faster than the cat. And I am faster than you are, friend. You
cannot win.” And she would laugh.
3)
But the tortoise always said to the hare, “I know that you are very fast, friend, but I can win
races too.”
Each time they talked the hare laughed at her, saying to the tortoise that she wasn’t very fast
and that she could never win. But the tortoise insisted that she could win a race. She kept on
saying that even though the hare may be very fast, she was going to win in a race.
4)
In order to resolve the situation, they decided to run a race. They decided on the route and the
day for the race.
The day arrived and they started the race.
5)
The hare started running. She ran very fast, and in very little time she left the tortoise behind.
The tortoise couldn’t see the hare. She walked slowly, but she kept on with the race.
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Copyright © 2015 by Bryce Hedstrom
6)
After running for a little while, the hare saw that she was much faster than the tortoise and she
said to herself, “Why am I running? I don’t need to run the whole race. I am so fast that I can win
the race without running the whole race right now. I am going to sleep a little. Yes! I am going
to take a nap!”
So the hare lay down beside the road, and in a short time she fell asleep.
7)
The tortoise still couldn’t see the hare, but she kept on walking.
8)
The tortoise walked slowly, but she kept on walking forward. Eventually, she arrived at the place
where the hare was sleeping. The tortoise kept on walking for many hours. She didn’t run,
because she really couldn’t run. And she didn’t walk fast, but she kept on walking.
9)
Finally, the tortoise could see the end of the race. She kept on walking slowly.
All of a sudden, the hare woke up from her nap. She saw the tortoise ahead. The hare ran very
fast, but she couldn’t win. The tortoise arrived at the end first, and she won the race!
10)
The hare couldn’t believe it, so she said, “I do not understand!”
And she asked the tortoise, “How did you win when I am faster than you?”
The tortoise smiled at her and said, “I won because I know that I am not fast. I cannot run fast,
but I can walk. I knew that I couldn’t run like a hare. But I could run my own race. I ran my own
race, and that’s why I won.”
“Slow and steady wins the race.”
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Copyright © 2015 by Bryce Hedstrom