AH dear reader, let me refresh your memory. Now sit yourself down and let me tell you Aesop’s fable of the hare and the tortoise! Once upon a time Bro Hare was making fun of Bro Tortoise for being so slow. “Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh. “Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.”
The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So, the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.
Now here’s a little addition to the tale, and I hope Aesop won’t mind, with my little extra bit, but since it was a competition many animals placed their bets on either the hare or the tortoise. Most placed it on the hare, but there were a few who placed their money and their life savings on the tortoise.
The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.
Immediately those who had placed their bets on the hare, showed the bookies the hare’s lead and got huge returns on their money. The others didn’t. All this while the Tortoise kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the sleeping Hare, and when at last the Hare did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
The moral Aesop gave was The race is not always to the swift. But in today’s modern-day version it most unfortunately is always to the swift. Look at what happened with one of our leaders, arrested, humiliated, and by the time justice was delivered, damage done by the swift, was beyond setting right.
And that is the race today, between hastily made intentional wrong decisions by the legislative, knowing fully well that a tortoise called justice will take years to catch up. Unless we speed up the Tortoise; give him faster legs or equip him with wings, the Hare will win, in those long periods which the courts take to deliver justice.
And here’s a thought, no hare or legislative is going to try speeding up the tortoise, because they enjoy those periods of standing on the victory post, even if they know it’s a fake victory, and they’ll have to finally step down! Alas, after damage has been done! This, a Modern Hare and Tortoise story..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
