| Rabbit & Turtle 3 | |
November 16, 2014
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| A couple of weeks after the race, the turtle came to the rabbit's house. There were several members of the rabbit family, including the rabbit, his father, his mother, and his younger sister. The turtle said, "I was very happy about your son's behavior in the last race. I've never been treated like that." The father rabbit said, "At first, we were disappointed that our son lost the race again; but, now, we are proud of him. Our son made a new page in our family's history." The mother rabbit said, "Was your family also pleased about your victory?" The turtle replied, "We turtles live long, as you know, and because of this, we separate from each other in the middle of our lives and never meet again." The mother looked at the turtle with pity, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. If you like, you can come to see us any time. I feel that you are like my son." The turtle knew that the mother's age was half of his, but said nothing. The turtle said, "I hope you don't misunderstand this, but, I know our body
The son totally understood what the turtle was saying because at the time he returned from the goal line in the race, he was thinking about the same thing. "But what should we do? You are a fatal slow runner," the father said. The mother looked at her husband with sharp eyes and said, "In that case how about to give a handy, like you start at 10 meters from the goal." The turtle said, "It seems a little bit different from an equal condition." The father nodded, "In that case the spectators won't be excited so much. The betting wouldn't even liven it up." The sister rabbit looked at her father with sharp eyes The mother said, "We don't need to insist on running. What are you turtles good at?" The turtle replied, "Maybe, swimming." "That's it!" The father shouted. The son rabbit claimed, "I have no chance to win in swimming! I can barely swim." The father said, "You can practice. And c how about a combination of running and swimming?" The sister shouted, "That's it! And in that case, I have an idea." The race day came. There were many spectators. (Their betting of the last race was forfeited because when the turtle finished at the goal, no judge was there.) There was a big banner which read 'The First Triathlon of Turtle vs Rabbit'. The horse, who was the judge, explained the rules, "You first swim the pond to-and-fro; then, next run to the big oak tree over there; and, finally, you fly with a paraglider from the bridge by the oak tree to the goal over there where the pole is with a red flag, in the inland of the river." The starting pistol sounded. They started to swim. When the turtle was turning at the opposite side of the pond, the rabbit was struggling at almost the starting point. The rabbit family and relatives cheered for him loudly. The other spectators chanted to both of the racers. The turtle returned soon and started to walk to the oak tree. His body was somehow moving. When the turtle was about to get to the oak tree, the rabbit finished swimming and started to follow the turtle fiercely. The turtle came to his paraglider set first, and soon the rabbit came alongside. It was almost about the same time that they flew from the high bridge. Now the rabbit's family and other spectators started to move to the goal point 100 meters below. Actually the rabbit was a good paraglider pilot. His father taught him various tips, and he practiced hard. He flew straight to the inland of the river. On the other hand, the turtle was good at mathematics; he was calculating the wind direction, the height and speed of the paraglider, and gravity. When the rabbit approached the inland of the river, the turtle was high above and released his paraglider set; he started to fall down straight to the inland. The rabbit landed on the inland first and took off his paraglider set and started to run to the goal pole. The turtle's falling speed was accelerated. The judge, the bear, was in front of the pole. He took a position like an umpire at a baseball game ready to watch for a close call at home base. But, unfortunately, he couldn't judge. The turtle hit him on the head, and the bear fainted and fell down on the rabbit who was about to touch the pole. None of them could move for a while. Fortunately, the turtle was OK because of his hard shell, the rabbit was OK because of the land's softness, and the bear was OK because of his hard head and small brain. The race became a draw, and the spectators blamed the draw on the bear's carelessness for a long time. (The End) |
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*liven up :to become more exciting, or to make an event become more exciting (L)
*forfeit :to lose sth or have sth taken away from you, usually because you have done sth wrong (O)
*to-and-fro :backwards and forwards (O)
*alongside :next to someone or something (C)