The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare shot off like an arrow from a bow.In less than a second,he was nothing but a speck of dust on the horizon.The crowd gasped at his incredible speed.The Tortoise,meanwhile,took one slow step forward.Then another.Then another.She moved at her own steady pace,just as she always did.

兔子像离弦的箭一样飞了出去。不到一眨眼的工夫，他已经变成了地平线上的一个小点。观众们被他那难以置信的速度惊得倒吸了一口气。而乌龟呢，这时才刚刚往前迈出了第一步。接着又一步，又一步。她按着自己稳稳的节奏向前走，就跟平时一模一样。

"Go,Tortoise,go!" shouted a few animals,but most of them had already turned their attention back to the Hare,who was now so far aheadthat he could barely be seen.

"加油，乌龟，加油！"几只动物喊道，但大多数人已经把注意力转回了兔子身上。兔子这时候已经跑得快看不见了。

The Hare ran and ran.He flew past the meadow.He zoomed through the woods.He leaped over a little stream without even getting his feet wet.He was so fastthat the wind whistled in his ears.In no time at all,he had covered more than half the race course.

兔子跑啊跑。他飞一般掠过了草地，嗖嗖地穿过了树林，跳过了一条小溪，连脚都没沾湿。他跑得那么快，风声在耳朵边呼呼地响。才一会儿工夫，他已经跑完了大半路程。

Then he stopped and looked back.The Tortoise was nowhere to be seen.He waited a full minute.Still no sign of her.The path behind him was completely empty."Well," said the Hare to himself,"this is boring.I am so far aheadthat I could take a little napand still win the race easily.Why should I tire myself out for nothing?That slow old Tortoise will take hoursand hours to get here.I have plenty of time."

这时他停下来回头看了看。乌龟连个影子也没有。他等了整整一分钟。还是不见她的踪影。他身后的路完全空荡荡的。"哎呀，"兔子对自己说，"真没劲。我领先这么多了，就算打个盹儿，也照样能轻轻松松赢。我干嘛要白费力气呢？那只慢吞吞的老乌龟，要好几个钟头才能爬到这儿呢。我有的是时间。"

So the Hare looked around for a comfortable spot.He found a shady patch of soft,green grass under a big oak tree."Perfect," he said.He lay down,put his paws behind his head,and closed his eyes."Just a short nap," he murmured to himself."Five minutes.Ten at the most.Then I'll wake up freshand win the race in style." Within moments,the Hare was fast asleep.He snored gently as the breeze rustled through the leaves above him.A butterfly landed on his nose,but he did not even twitch.

于是兔子四处张望想找个舒服的地方。他在一棵大橡树下面找到了一片阴凉地，草地软软的绿绿的。"太完美了。"他说。他躺了下来，两只爪子枕在脑后，闭上了眼睛。"就打个小盹儿，"他喃喃自语道，"五分钟，最多十分钟。然后醒过来精神焕发，漂亮地赢下这场比赛。"没一会儿工夫，兔子就沉沉地睡着了。微风轻轻吹着头顶的树叶沙沙响，他轻轻地打着呼噜。一只蝴蝶停在了他的鼻子上，可他连抖都没抖一下。

Meanwhile,the Tortoise kept walking.She did not stop to look at the view.She did not stop to complain about the heat.She did not stop to wonderwhere the Hare was.She simply put one foot in front of the other,overand overand over again.Step by step.Inch by inch.Never pausing.Never wavering.

与此同时，乌龟在不停地走着。她没有停下来看风景，没有停下来抱怨天热，也没有停下来去想兔子在哪儿。她只是一只脚放在另一只脚前面，一遍又一遍，一遍又一遍。一步接一步，一寸又一寸。从不停歇，从不摇摆。

She passed the meadow where the Hare had zoomed through.She passed the woodswhere the Hare had leaped over the stream.The sun climbed higher in the sky.It grew hot.Sweat formed on the Tortoise's browand dripped down her wrinkled neck,but she kept going.She did not stop.

她走过了兔子飞一般穿过的草地，走过了兔子跳过小溪的那片树林。太阳越升越高，天热了起来。汗珠从乌龟的额头上渗出来，沿着她满是皱纹的脖子往下淌，可她继续走着，没有停下来。

The animals on the sidelines began to notice something."Look!" whispered a squirrel."The Tortoise is getting closer to the finish line!And the Hare is still asleep!" A murmur spread through the crowd.The birds flew ahead to check on the Hare.They came back twittering,"He's still sleeping!He's still sleeping!"

路边的动物们开始注意到一件事。"快看！"一只松鼠悄声说，"乌龟离终点越来越近了！兔子还在睡觉！"一阵窃窃私语在观众中传开了。鸟儿飞过去查看兔子的情况，又叽叽喳喳地飞回来报告："他还在睡！他还在睡！"