After the shock of losing the first race to the tortoise, the hare did some soul-searching on why he failed to win the race. He realised that being overconfident can be a dangerous thing.

He went back to the tortoise to ask for a second race, to which the tortoise promptly agreed, assuming that everything would be the same as before.

So at the agreed time and place the race started and the hare took off at top speed. This time, however, he did not give himself any rest, running at his best until had crossed the finish line.

Of course, the tortoise was dumbfounded, not expecting the world around him to change. It was his turn to do some soul-searching, at the end of which he found a key principle of life: being gifted with a sense of purpose and urgency is more important than being gifted and taking things at snail’s pace.

He called the hare and asked for another race. The hare, who could not conceive how the tortoise could ever beat him, hastily consented.