How the Tortoise Out-ran the Deer

A Tortoise met a Deer out walking, one day, and asked him what he was looking for. The Deer answered, “I am out for a walk, to see if I cannot find something to eat; and pray where are you going, Tortoise?” “Oh, out walking, looking for water to drink.” “How soon do you expect to reach the water?” asked the Deer. “Why do you ask that question?” returned the Tortoise. “Because your legs are so short.” “Well!” answered the Tortoise, “I can run faster than you can. If you are long-legged you cannot run so fast as I.” “Then let us run a race!” said the Deer. “Well,” answered the Tortoise, “when shall we run?” “To-morrow.” “At what time?” “Very early in the morning.” “All right,” assented the Tortoise, who then went into the forest and called together his relations, the other Tortoises, saying, “Come on, let’s catch him!” “But how are you going to catch him?” they inquired. “I said to the Deer,” answered the Tortoise, “‘Let us run a race, to see who can run the faster.’ Now I am going to cheat that Deer. You scatter yourselves along the edge of the campo, in the forest, keeping not very far from one another, and see that you keep perfectly still, each in his place! To-morrow, when we begin the race, the deer will run on the campo, but I will remain quietly in my place. When he calls out to me, if you are ahead of him, answer, but take care not to respond if he has passed you.” Early the next morning the Deer went out to meet the Tortoise. “Come,” said the former, “let us run!” “Wait a bit!” said the Tortoise, “I am going to run in the woods.” “Why, how are you, a little, short-legged fellow, going to run in the forest?” asked the Deer, surprised. The Tortoise insisted that he could not run in the campo, but that he was accustomed to run in the forest, so the Deer assented, and the Tortoise went into the woods, saying: “When I take my position I will make a noise with a little stick, so that you may know I am ready.” When the Tortoise, having reached his place, gave the signal, the Deer started off leisurely, laughing to himself, not thinking it worth his while to run. After the Deer had gone quite a little distance, he turned round and called out, “Hullo, Tortoise!” When to his astonishment, a Tortoise a little way ahead cried out, “Hullo, Deer!” “Well,” said the Deer to himself, “that Tortoise does run fast!” Whereupon he hurried up for a bit and then called out again, but the voice of the Tortoise still seemed to be beyond him. “Why, how’s this?” exclaimed the Deer, and he ran briskly for a little ways till, thinking that he surely must have passed the Tortoise, he stopped, turned about, and called again. “Hullo, Deer!” the answer came from the edge of the forest just ahead. On this the Deer set off at full speed, and, after a little, but without stopping this time, he called to the Tortoise. And still the cry, “Hullo, Deer!” came back to him from ahead. He then redoubled his forces, but with no better success, and at last, tired and bewildered, he ran against a tree and fell dead. The noise made by the feet of the Deer having ceased, the first Tortoise listened. Not a sound was heard. Then he called to the Deer, but received no response. So he went to see what was the matter and found the Deer lying at the foot of the tree. This is an Amazonian myth of the Tupi-speaking population, as related in the Lingua Geral.—CHARLES F. HARTT. A myth of the slow Tortoise (Sun) and the swift Deer (Moon), a race which the Sun always wins.