When somebody boasts in a story, you can be sure that they are heading for a come-down. The hare in this famous fable by Aesop does a lot of boasting - and so it’s not unreasonable to expect that he’s about to learn a lesson the hard way.

But the hare is just a bit fed up with the bad reputation that Aesop has created for him. And so the Storynory version is told by the hare himself - just to set the record straight.

Hare’s voice by Natasha. Duration 13.16.

Hello. My name is Speedy, and for good reason. I’ve got long, long legs and I can really go ! You can catch me if you can – but I don’t think you will.

In a race, I come first. Always. I never, never lose. Well alright, there was that one time that one time that I took the silver medal. But it only ever happened once. It’s so unfair that people keep going on about it. I blame that Aesop. He’s the one who wrote it all down.

It happened in March, and that’s the time of year that we hares go a bit crazy you know. We’re so busy springing in the Spring that sometimes our thoughts just can’t quite keep up with our legs. Look, I’ll tell you what happened – just so that you understand that it wasn’t really my fault. It could have happened to anyone.

Do you know that old tortoise who lives in the next field? He’s so slow, that the first time I saw him I thought he was a rock. In fact, I’ve seen rocks than move faster than he can. His head looks like, well, a cabbage. And his feat look like Brussels sprouts. Quite frankly, he’s a ridiculous creature.

One day I was leaping around the fields and he was just watching me, and nodding that cabbage-like head of his. I bounced up to him and said, “Come on you lazy old thing – is that all the exercise you take – just nodding all day long. I’m surprised you don’t nod off to sleep.

The tortoise didn’t answer. His mouth was full of grass and he was chewing – very slowly.

Just then the fox popped out of the hedge-row. He scratched his flea bites and said:

“Don’t you know that the tortoise hibernates?”

“Hiber-what’s?” I asked.

“Hibernates,” said the fox again. It means that he goes to sleep for the whole winter.”

“HA! Sleeps – For the whole winter!” I said. “That’s incredible. He must be the laziest creature alive. In fact, it’s hardly fair to say he is alive. If he was dead it would be hard to tell the difference.”

It was all to easy to mock the tortoise. He couldn’t be bothered even to stick up for himself. He just kept on munching, so slowly.

But the fox, who’s a big know-it-all, replied for him:

“Most likely he will be around after we are both long gone. Tortoises can live for over 100 years.”

“A 100 years! “ I exclaimed. “Just nodding, chewing, and occasionally plodding. I’d get bored out of my mind. I have to run and jump and win races. If you’ve got speed, then you can really know that you’re alive!”

Then that wily old fox said: “I’ll lay a bet that the tortoise can beat you in a race. Not a quick dash of course. He’s hardly a sprinter. But a proper race over a good distance. Say – up to the top of that hill and back. I don’t believe you’ll beat him in a race like that.”

“Pah!” I said. “I’ll beat that old tortoise over any distance, any day, any time.”

And that’s how I got myself into that infamous race with the tortoise. The fox arranged it all for us the next day at noon. The sun was high in the sky, and the heat was scorching. It was more like summer than spring.

All the local creatures came to see the fun. The crows cawed and the cows munched like they normally do. But you could tell that something interesting was going to happen because they were swishing their tales, and not just to keep the flies off. It was the biggest thing to happen around these parts for ages.

Of course almost everyone was backing me to win. You only had to look at me, lean,fit, with a terrific bounce in my step. And then look at HIM, old, cabbage head, with a great shell on his back. I was the clear favourite. Only the fox was backing the tortoise. He was taking bets off his cronies, the badger and the rat. If I won, he would do them a month of services and favours. And if the tortoise won, they would have to work for him for a whole month. The badger and the rat thought the fox must have gone soft in the head to make such a silly bet.

At last the fox called out: “Ready, Steady Go !” I hung around for a moment to see the tortoise lumber off the starting line, but he was taking so long about it that I got bored and shot off towards the hill. I was flying across the field, but I must say, the hill was a long way. Even I couldn’t get there in a moment. At the end of the field I looked over my shoulder and saw that the tortoise had hardly got started. I’d say his top speed was about one mile per week. I had no doubt at all that victory was mine.

I crossed another three fields, and at last I got to the hill and I started to make my way up. It was tougher going now, and my legs were starting to feel less springy than usual. I took another look back and saw that tortoise was only half way across the first field. I decided to stop for a breather and a bit of a chuckle.

How did the fox ever think that old cabbage-head could beat me? Doesn’t he know that I’m speedy by name, speedy by nature? And I thought he was smart.

In fact, just to show him how confident I was of winning, I sat down. “Give the old lumber-along a sporting chance,” I said to myself. “And when he gets near, I’ll dash off again. That will make the race more entertaining.”

And so I stretched out and chewed on a long piece of juicy grass. I knew one of the beady-eyed crows would see me and report back to the crowd how I was so far ahead that I could afford to take things easy. In fact, I thought it wouldn’t do any harm just to close my eyes for a moment or two. My eye-lids certainly were feeling a bit heavy after running up hill under a hot sun. In fact, I thought that 40 winks would refresh me, and I would set off all the faster when I got going again.

And oh, how pleasant it was to lie down on such a glorious day. The grasshoppers were singing and the breeze was rustling ever so gently in the trees. Soon I was dreaming of victory. They would be talking about this on the farm for weeks. But dear, dear, dear me. I must have well and truly dozed off, because when I woke up, I shivered. The sun was going down, and the air was a bit cooler. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was, and then I recalled the race. I stood up and scanned the hill below for sight of the tortoise. Perhaps he had just done the logical thing and given up and gone back home. So I started to jog up to the top of the hill, and then run gently back down again. Still no sign of my rival.

It was almost dark when I got back to the farm gate and the finishing line. The cows had gone off to be milked, and only the fox, the badger, and the rat were waiting for me.

“Hello guys,” I said. “What’s my prize?”

“What’s your prize?” said the badger. “You’re prize is that we are working for the fox for a month.”

“GRRRR ! ” said the rat, really quite angry. “You’ve well and truly let us down. You might be Speedy by name, but your dead lazy by nature. Beaten by a 100 year old slow-coach. It’s disgusting, truly disgusting.”

Only the old fox had a sly grin on his face.

“Thank you hare,” he said. “You’ve proved me right, as I usually am. The tortoise plodded in home just over an hour ago. It only goes to show that slow and steady always wins the race.”

And so now you know all about the one and only time that I came less than first in a race. Of course you shouldn’t go supposing that the tortoise is faster than me. It was just a one-off kind of disaster. I mean, over-sleeping like that, it could have happened to anyone. I’m still the fastest creature on the farm – and don’t le any one tell you different.

Well I must dash. No time to hang around chatting like this. Catch you later !

And that was the story of the hare and the tortoise, as told by the Hare.

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• The Rat And the Elephant - Told by the Rat
• The Grasshopper and the Ants - Told by the Grasshopper
• The Fox and the Crow - Told by the Fox
• The Little Mouse - Told by the Mouse

All voices by Natasha. Duration 13.11

The Rat And the Elephant

Some people say that rats are ugly creatures. When they see a rat running a long, they go ee-yuck ! Well I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought that this was rather rude. Rats can have hurt feelings too you know ! In any case, When I catch sight of my reflection in a stream, I think I’m rather cute.

Just recently, I was trotting along the King’s Highway, in my sweet little way, when I heard a great commotion on the road up ahead. Who or what is causing all that fuss? I wondered.

When I got closer, I saw the king himself, riding along on top of a great fat lump of an elephant. The crowd of onlookers was ooo-ing and aah-ing full of admiration for that stupid beast with a nose that’s far too big for her face. She’s much uglier than me, I thought. And I so I started to spring up and down and say, hey every one, Why not look at me ! I’m such a cutie-pie! I could join the king’s household and be a Royal Rat, if only there was any justice in the world.

At first, nobody noticed me. They were all too busy oggling that stupid elephant. And little did I know, but riding behind the elephant in a carriage, was the princess, and she was holding a beastly cat in her arms. When he caught sight of me, the cat lept out of the carriage and started to chase me. I had to run for my life, and just popped down a hole in time before the cat could eat me up.

And so now I’ve changed my mind about wanting people to notice me and admire me. I’ve decided that sometimes, it’s far better not to draw attention to yourself, but just to get on quietly with your own business.

The Grasshopper and the Ants

I’m an artist, and as everyone knows, artists are usually rather poor. But normally, I don’t mind about that. When the sun is shining, I sit on my favourite blade of grass and play music for everyone to listen too. I have lots of friends, and together we’ve formed an orchestra.

Everyone loves our music and says how cheerful it makes them feel. Well almost everyone. There’s a family of ants who never stop to listen. They take themselves far to seriously for music or enjoyment. All they do is work, work, work, even when the sun is shining.

“Hey You Ants” I said to them. “It’s a lovely summer’s day, Why don’t you rest your feet for a while, and listen to my sweet music?”.

“No time to stop,” one of them said, panting away. “We’re far too busy stocking up food for winter.”

The months went by, and the days got shorter and colder. I was shivering so much that I couldn’t even sing. A hard frost was on the ground, and there wasn’t a crumb to eat. I was so hungry ! So I went to see that busy family of ants and said, “Please Sirs, I’m a poor starving musician. Spare me a few crumbs from your store of food.”

But do you know what? Those ants just turned their noses up at me. They were so stingy that that they wouldn’t share any of their food. Oh Well, I’ll just have to go hungry this winter. In the New Year I’ll make a resolution. When the times are good, I’ll remember to save some food for a rainy day.

The Fox and the Crow

I bet you can’t guess what I like to eat best of all? Yes, I knew that you would say that foxes like to eat hens best, and stolen ones at that. And I don’t mind admitting that I wouldn’t ever say no to a nice fat chicken wing once in a while. But not many people know that what foxes appreciate even more than chicken, is a nice piece of cheese once in a while.

Well today I ate a wonderfully rich and creaming slice of cheddar for my breakfast. It was kindly given to me by a beautiful black-feathered bird whose voice is even more wonderful than her looks. No, I don’t mean a sky-lark, or a fancy bird of paradise. I’m talking about Miss Crow up in that tree.

It was a fine bright morning, and I was following my sharp nose through the woods in search of a bite to eat, when I caught a cheesy smell on the breeze. I looked up into the tree and there on the branch I saw Miss Crow, looking terribly pleased with herself, for in her beak she held a large piece of cheese. It was stolen, no doubt, from the farmer over the hill, but I’m not one to go around accusing people of this and that. And so I called up to my neighbour and said,

“Good Morning Miss Crow, You are looking very lovely today, If I may say so.” And Miss crow cocked her head on one side and looked at me with her beedy little eye, but she kept her beak firmly closed on the cheese.

“Such a charming creature,” I mused to myself, making sure nevertheless that she could overhear. “Such a fine sheen on those wonderous black feathers. What wings ! what Legs ! And the beak! Exquisite! ”

I could see that Miss crow was paying close attention to my words, even though she was pretending ever so hard not to hear.

So I gazed up at the tree with admiration and love in my eyes and said, “Ah, my heart is smitten by this wonderful bird. If only I could hear her voice. I’m sure that such a charming creature must sing most sweetly!” If I could but hear one line of her song, I would hail her as the Princess of The Forest !”

And now I could see my words had hit home. Swelling with pride, Miss crow puffed up her feathers and began to sing the most lovely music I have ever heard.

“CAAWWWWWWWWW!!

Well alright, I know that you are saying that Miss Crow’s voice is not exactly star quality, but to me that “cawww!” was just the sound that I’d been waiting for. Because as soon as she opened her beak, the cheese fell to the ground and I snappped up my breakfast.

Which only goes to show that

Flattery will get you everywhere.

The Little Mouse

“Mummy ! Mummy! Thank goodness it’s you! I’ve just escaped by a whisker from the most frightful scary monster that there ever was !”

“Just now, I was strolling along minding my own business when, as I turned into the farm yard, I saw two strange creatures. One of them looked very kind and fluffy, and had lovely whiskers, but the other was a scary, scary monster! Woww !

“On top of his head and in front of his neck hung pieces of red raw meat. He walked about this way and that, tearing up the ground with his toes, and beating his arms against his sides. The moment he caught sight of me he opened his pointed mouth as if to swallow me, and then he let out a cry that frightened me almost to death.”

“If it had not been for that terrible monster, I would have made friends with the pretty creature, who looked so good and gentle. He had thick, velvety fur, a soft face, and his eyes were bright and shining. As he looked at me he waved his fine long tail and smiled.

“I am sure he was just about to speak to me when the monster I have told you about let out a screaming yell, and I ran for my life.”

Mother Mouse

“My little mouse, that gentle creature you saw was none other than the Cat. Under his kindly appearance, he bears a grudge against every one of us. The other was nothing but the Corkrel, who wouldn’t harm you in the least. As for the Cat, he eats us. So be thankful, my child, that you escaped with your life, and, as long as you live, never judge people by their looks.

A slave runs away from his master and hides in the woods - then finds himself face to face with a limping lion….

The tale of Androcles and the Lion is said to have been written by Aesop - the great Greek storyteller who always summed up his stories from the animal kingdom with a moral. In the case of Androcles, the lesson is that “Gratitude is the sign of a noble soul!”

Read by Natasha. Duration 6 minutes 5 seconds

It happened in ancient times that a slave named Androcles escaped from his master and fled into the forest, and he wandered there for a long time until he was weary and well nigh spent with hunger and despair.

Just then he heard a lion near him moaning and groaning and at times roaring terribly. Tired as he was Androcles rose up and rushed away from the lion; but as he made his way through the bushes he stumbled over the root of a tree and fell down twisting his ankle, and when he tried to get up there he saw the lion coming towards him, limping on three feet and holding his forepaw in front of him.

Poor Androcles was in despair; he had not strength to rise and run away, and there was the lion coming upon him. But when the great beast came up to him instead of attacking him it kept on moaning and groaning and looking at Androcles, who saw that the lion was holding out his right paw, which was covered with blood and much swollen. Looking more closely at it Androcles saw a great big thorn pressed into the paw, which was the cause of all the lion’s trouble. Plucking up courage he seized hold of the thorn and drew it out of the lion’s paw, who roared with pain when the thorn came out, but soon after found such relief from it that he rubbed up against Androcles and showed, in every way that he knew, that he was truly thankful for being relived from such pain.

Instead of eating him up he brought him a young deer that he had slain, and Androcles managed to make a meal from it. For some time the lion continued to bring the game he had killed to Androcles, who became quite fond of the huge beast.

But one day a number of soldiers came marching through the forest and found Androcles, and as he could not explain what he was doing they took him prisoner and brought him back to the town from which he had fled. Here his master soon found him and brought him before the authorities, and he was condemned to death because he had fled from his master.

Now it used to be the custom to throw murderers and other criminals to the lions in a huge circus, so that while the criminals were punished the public could enjoy the spectacle of a combat between them and the wild beasts.

So Androcles was condemned to be thrown to the lions, and on the appointed day he was led forth into the Arena and left there alone with only a spear to protect him from the lion. The Emperor of Rome was in the royal box that day and gave the signal for the lion to come out and attack Androcles. But when it came out of its cage and got near Androcles, what do you think it did? Instead of jumping upon him it rubbed up against him and stroked him with its paw and made no attempt to do him any harm.

It was of course the lion which Androcles had met in the forest. The Emperor, surprised at seeing such a strange behavior in so cruel a beast, summoned Androcles to him and asked him how it happened that this particular lion had lost all its cruelty of character. So Androcles told the Emperor all that had happened to him and how the lion was showing its gratitude for his having relieved it of the thorn. Thereupon the Emperor pardoned Androcles and ordered his master to set him free, while the lion was taken back into the forest and let loose to enjoy freedom once more.