A long time ago, two animals wanted to be king of their village. One was Elephant, who was big, strong and fast. The other was Turtle, who was the slowest animal, but was very smart and worked very hard.
They decided to hold a race at dawn through the forest. The winner would be king.
Elephant laughed. He knew he could easily outrun Turtle. He went home very happy and went to sleep.
Turtle was worried. He told his family and friends about the race. They talked about it and Turtle came up with a plan.
That night, while Elephant was sleeping, all the turtles went to the forest and walked all the way from the start line to the finish line. Every hundred yards, one of Turtle’s friends or relatives would dig into the earth and hide under dirt and leaves. Turtle’s older brother hid himself right by the tree near the finish line.
At dawn, Elephant and Turtle arrived for the race. Elephant took off in a flash.
After a minute or two, Elephant was sure he was far ahead of Turtle. He turned around and called out, "Turtle, where are you? You must be far behind me."
"Here I am, ahead of you!" cried Turtle.
Elephant was shocked to see Turtle ahead of him. At least, he thought it was Turtle. It was really Turtle’s cousin who had been hiding there all night.
Elephant ran past Turtle’s cousin. Every so often he would call back to Turtle and be surprised to see Turtle ahead of him again and again.
Finally, when Turtle’s brother heard Elephant getting close to the finish line, Turtle’s brother popped up and crossed the finish line before Elephant.
Elephant could not tell the turtles apart. He thought the turtle at the finish line was the same one who started the race.
Even though all the animals, including Elephant, thought it was impossible for Turtle to win the race, Turtle found a way. And that’s how Turtle became king of the village.
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