The Tortuous Tale of a Tortoise
A Slow-moving Story
If you ask anyone who grew up in the English-speaking world what story they associate with a tortoise, they will likely say “The Tortoise and the Hare,” one of Aesop’s Fables. I’ve been thinking about that fable recently, mostly because I feel like such a tortoise—and by that I mean creeping about slowly and having a back that seems notably different from everyone else’s.
In the version of the fable that I remember from childhood, the tortoise wins the race, of course, but the hare is the more interesting character and the focus of most of the text. We hear the hare boast about his speed, and we have insight into his interior monologues and motivations. The story describes the hare’s decision to take a nap and eat a snack. Meanwhile, almost no attention is given to the tortoise, who plods along to victory. And then we are told that the moral of the story is: Slow and steady wins the race.
I cannot be the only person who has thought that the tortoise is one of most boring characters ever in a fable.
It turns out that there are many versions of this fable, including one in which the tortoise snippily retorts to the hare that he wouldn’t be so fast if he had to carry his house on his back. (Now that is a tortoise I can relate to!) The moral of the story also changes in different versions, including one in 17th-century England that depicted the hare as posh and lazy and the tortoise as working-class and diligent.
At this point it would be tempting to say that although I am slow and have a debilitated back (and nap enough to qualify as a boring character), if I keep plodding on I will win the race. But the reality is that there is no race. There is no winning. Life isn’t always a competition, especially not life with cancer. I might feel like a tortoise, but Aesop’s fable is the wrong story for me.
I think a better tale is that I am a tortoise—but not one who is not alone. The hares and foxes and geese surrounding me are not competitors but friends and supporters. Sometimes we are cheering each other to keep going, sometimes we’re taking a break together, and sometimes we are carrying each other. We all have stories and motivations and gifts. What makes the story exciting is not who crosses the finish line first but how we love and support each other along the way.
I did, however, want to share my favorite version of this story, by Lord Dunsany in 1915:
THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE
For a long time there was doubt with acrimony among the beasts as to whether the Hare or the Tortoise could run the swifter. Some said the Hare was the swifter of the two because he had such long ears, and others said the Tortoise was the swifter because anyone whose shell was so hard as that should be able to run hard too. And lo, the forces of estrangement and disorder perpetually postponed a decisive contest.
But when there was nearly war among the beasts, at last an arrangement was come to and it was decided that the Hare and the Tortoise should run a race of five hundred yards so that all should see who was right.
"Ridiculous nonsense!" said the Hare, and it was all his backers could do to get him to run.
"The contest is most welcome to me," said the Tortoise, "I shall not shirk it."
O, how his backers cheered.
Feeling ran high on the day of the race; the goose rushed at the fox and nearly pecked him. Both sides spoke loudly of the approaching victory up to the very moment of the race.
"I am absolutely confident of success," said the Tortoise. But the Hare said nothing, he looked bored and cross. Some of his supporters deserted him then and went to the other side, who were loudly cheering the Tortoise's inspiriting words. But many remained with the Hare. "We shall not be disappointed in him," they said. "A beast with such long ears is bound to win."
"Run hard," said the supporters of the Tortoise.
And "run hard" became a kind of catch-phrase which everybody repeated to one another. "Hard shell and hard living. That's what the country wants. Run hard," they said. And these words were never uttered but multitudes cheered from their hearts.
Then they were off, and suddenly there was a hush.
The Hare dashed off for about a hundred yards, then he looked round to see where his rival was.
"It is rather absurd," he said, "to race with a Tortoise." And he sat down and scratched himself. "Run hard! Run hard!" shouted some.
"Let him rest," shouted others. And "let him rest" became a catch-phrase too.
And after a while his rival drew near to him.
"There comes that damned Tortoise," said the Hare, and he got up and ran as hard as could be so that he should not let the Tortoise beat him.
"Those ears will win," said his friends. "Those ears will win; and establish upon an incontestable footing the truth of what we have said." And some of them turned to the backers of the Tortoise and said: "What about your beast now?"
"Run hard," they replied. "Run hard."
The Hare ran on for nearly three hundred yards, nearly in fact as far as the winning-post, when it suddenly struck him what a fool he looked running races with a Tortoise who was nowhere in sight, and he sat down again and scratched.
"Run hard. Run hard," said the crowd, and "Let him rest."
"Whatever is the use of it?" said the Hare, and this time he stopped for good. Some say he slept.
There was desperate excitement for an hour or two, and then the Tortoise won.
"Run hard. Run hard," shouted his backers. "Hard shell and hard living: that's what has done it." And then they asked the Tortoise what his achievement signified, and he went and asked the Turtle. And the Turtle said, "It is a glorious victory for the forces of swiftness." And then the Tortoise repeated it to his friends. And all the beasts said nothing else for years. And even to this day, "a glorious victory for the forces of swiftness" is a catch-phrase in the house of the snail.
And the reason that this version of the race is not widely known is that very few of those that witnessed it survived the great forest-fire that happened shortly after. It came up over the weald by night with a great wind. The Hare and the Tortoise and a very few of the beasts saw it far off from a high bare hill that was at the edge of the trees, and they hurriedly called a meeting to decide what messenger they should send to warn the beasts in the forest.
They sent the Tortoise.
HEALTH UPDATE
If the first weeks after diagnosis were a sprint, the past few weeks have been a steady plod. I’ve started the first of the two treatment drugs, and I’ve seemed to tolerate it well aside from the aforementioned napping. Today I will go to Ninewells; if my blood work looks OK, I will start the second treatment, a targeted therapy drug designed to attack parts of the cancer. From my geeking out in medical journals, it seems that when this drug works it can be very effective in combination with estrogen blockers. The side effects can be challenging, though, and some people aren’t able to tolerate it for very long.
The specific prayer requests: For my blood work to be OK for this treatment, especially my white blood cell count; for this treatment to work in fighting the cancer; and for the side effects to be minimal so that I can stay on this treatment regimen as long as possible.
I'm running late on email (victory for swiftness!), but Dad is in Black Mountain and I am back in NC for the long haul now. While in Texas I saw a tortoise slowly crossing the road. I was stopping the car to try to help it speed along, since it was a relatively busy spot in my dad's little town. Before I could get out of my car, another car came rapidly in the other direction and seemed oblivious to my purpose or to the tortoise's presence. Then to my surprise, the tortoise took off at a sprint, about 8 to 10 steps, to jump off the culvert into the creek. I've never seen one run so fast. So there it is. Probably would not have done so well for many more steps. Hoping the best for you as the treatment and living goes on.
Praying for you everyday, will add these request to the prays