8. THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
Storytelling is as old as man. It has been one of the greatest sources of preaching moral values because every story is written with some moral purpose. All the prophets, the saints, religious scholars and teachers have been adopting it as a source of preaching any kind of morality. If one follows the lesson preached in the story, one can avoid many perils and problems. The story “The Hare and the Tortoise” also gives us a sublime moral lesson.
Once, a hare and a tortoise lived in a jungle. The hare often laughed at the slow speed of the tortoise. One day, the tortoise took it ill and challenged the hare to run a race. The hare accepted it. They fixed their winning point and started to run. The hare made long jumps. Soon, he was out of sight. On the way, he stayed to take some rest. On the other hand, the tortoise continued his journey, passed by the hare silently and reached its destination. But when the hare awoke, he ran towards the destination. But when he reached the destination, the tortoise was already there. After this, he never made fun of the tortoise. We learn from the story: “Pride hath a fall.”
Moral:
1. Slow and steady wins the race.
2. Pride hath a fall.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE KEPT IN MIND:
- Never use the moral lesson as the title of the story. The title must be pure title. It should be “The Hare and the Tortoise” or “A Hare and a Tortoise.” Whatever the title you have read, follow that specific title.
- Most of the moral stories have more than one moral lesson. Sometimes, the students try to write more than one moral lesson. In doing so, they make mistakes. I would advise them to write the specific moral lesson in which they have been asked to write a story.