LITTLEBLACKDOG.COM

Toilet Drinker Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 242

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race. The moral- "Slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with." THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE, there are few more interesting things.....it continues as follows......

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realized that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed. This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles. The moral - " Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable." THE STORY DOESN'T END HERE

The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realized that there's no way it can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. It thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. The moral - " First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency." THE STORY STILL HASN'T ENDED.

The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realized that the last race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier. The moral - "It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Toilet Drinker Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 316

Nice story, nice moral Smile

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:27 am Post subject:

But it doesn't end there. The hare and the tortoise realized that they had a following. At every race, thousands of folks would show up to see who won. So, they licensed the TV rights to ESPN and began accepting sponsorships. The hare went with the "Bunny Bites" prepackaged carrots sponsorship. The turtle went with Turtle Wax, of course. Each signed multimillion dollar endorsement deals. Soon neither cared who won the race. It was all about the money. They became wealthy and lived happily ever after. Moral: You can take your passion and make it into something great.

Toilet Drinker Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 316

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:10 am Post subject:

But it doesn't end there. As is typical of celebrities, Hare and Tortoise soon found the wonders of wine, women, and drugs, the hare opting for heroin and the tortoise for cocaine. The tortoise soon cemented his place in celebrity lore, dying of a cocaine overdose after snorting a half kilo in 10 minutes with two Las Vegas strippers. Three rehab stints later, the hare was kicked out of the track and field league. Having been cured of his two venereal diseases (groupies are dirty), he now lives in a trailer with his sixth wife and 4 children (by 3 different hares), thinks constantly of his friend Tortoise, and often contemplates ending his miserable existence. Moral: Drugs are bad, mmmkay.

Guide Dog Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 8208 Location: MN

But it doesn't end there. During his rehab the hare found Christ and wanting to share his vision after he realized he had hit rock bottom in the trailer park, he began a church group, and started touring telling his life story for church groups, schools, and eventually was able to start charging for his speaking and able to establish a normal life. Moral: you can always dig up once you hit the bottom.

Leg Humper Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 5997

But it doesn't end there. Tortoise explained away his fantasy religious ideas. Hare committed suicide successfully leaving tortoise as solel survivor. Other hares tried against tortoise; but his wealth paid for poison, snipers and most important lawyers.

The moral is reach the top and prevent anyone climbing up along side.

Toilet Drinker Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 316

But it doesn't end there. Tortoise found his paid minions increasingly afraid of him (in case he thought they were getting too cosy and bumped them off). Old friends and relatives didn't dare visit, for fear Tortoise would think them after his money. Tortoise became bored of his solitary life, and blew his brains out..
Moral of the story: It's lonely at the top Wink

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:53 pm Post subject:

I see myself in all of them.
justice or mercy?

Toilet Drinker Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 316

Mercy - there's always rehab Very Happy

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:33 pm Post subject:

But it doesn't end there. The promoter to the original race, a well respected local Dwarf, had placed several bets against both the Tortoise and the hare claiming neither would win in the end. Showing that Dwarfs are much smarter than either Tortoises or hare's Laughing

Guide Dog Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 8208 Location: MN

Superdwarf wrote:
But it doesn't end there. The promoter to the original race, a well respected local Dwarf, had placed several bets against both the Tortoise and the hare claiming neither would win in the end. Showing that Dwarfs are much smarter than either Tortoises or hare's

Moral? Dwarfs are natural sprinters? quite dangerous over short distances?