Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The Quickest Runners. rriHERE was a large reward offered—indeed, there were -I- two rewards offered, a larger and a lesser one—for the greatest speed, not in one race alone, but to such as had got on fastest throughout the year. " I got the highest prize," said the hare. " One had a right to expect justice when one's own family and best friends were in the council; but that the snail should have got the second prize I consider as almost an insult to me." " No," observed the wooden fence, which had been a witness to the distribution of the prizes; " you must take diligence and good will into consideration. That remark was made by several very estimable persons, and that was also my opinion. To be sure the snail took half a year to cross the threshold; tut he broke his thigh-bone in the tremendous exertion which hat was for him. He devoted himself entirely to this race; d, moreover, he ran with his house on his back. All these weighed in his favour, and so he obtained the second prize." " I think my claims might also have been taken into considcration," said the swallow. " More speedy than I, in flight and motion, I believe no one has shown himself. And where have I not been ? Far, far away!" " And that is just your misfortune," said the wooden fence. " You gad about too much. You are always on the wing, ready to start out of the country when it begins to freeze. You have no love for your fatherland. You cannot claim any consideration in it." " But if I were to sleep all the winter through on the moor," inquired the swallow—" sleep my whole time away— should I be thus entitled to be taken into consideration ? " " Obtain an affidavit from the old woman of the moor that you did sleep half the year in your fatherland, then your claims will be taken into consider... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.