The Tortoise and the Hare

The Tortoise and the Hare Illustration

Tap any word for its meaning

从前cóng qiányǒu一只yī zhī跑得飞快pǎo de fēi kuàide兔子tù ziOnce upon a time, there was a rabbit that ran very fast.总是zǒng shì骄傲地jiāo ào de跳来跳去tiào lái tiào qù嘲笑cháo xiào其他qí tā动物dòng wùIt always proudly hopped around, mocking other animals:zuìkuàishuídōu比不过bǐ bù guò'I am the fastest! No one can beat me!'

zài森林sēn línyǒu一只yī zhī慢吞吞màn tūn tūnde乌龟wū guī总是zǒng shì一步yī bù一步yī bùdezǒu从不cóng bù着急zháo jíIn the forest, there was also a slow tortoise that always moved 'step by step' but never hurried.

有一天yǒu yī tiān兔子tù ziduì乌龟wū guī大喊dà hǎnhēi乌龟wū guītàimànlegǎn不敢bù gǎn比赛bǐ sàiOne day, the rabbit shouted at the tortoise: 'Hey! Tortoise! You are too slow! Dare to race with me?'

乌龟wū guī点点头diǎn diǎn tóu严肃地yán sù deshuōhǎo我们wǒ men比赛bǐ sàibaThe tortoise nodded and said seriously: 'Okay, let’s compete!'

比赛bǐ sài开始kāi shǐleThe race began!

兔子tù zisōude一下yī xià冲出去chōng chū qù一眨眼yī zhǎ yǎnjiù不见了bù jiàn leThe rabbit dashed out with a 'whoosh' and disappeared in the blink of an eye.乌龟wū guīne低着头dī zhe tóu慢慢地màn màn de一步yī bù一步yī bùdeWhat about the tortoise? It lowered its head and crawled slowly step by step.

比赛bǐ sàidào一半yī bànshí兔子tù zi回头huí tóukàn哈哈hā hā乌龟wū guī根本gēn běn看不见kàn bù jiànxiānshuì一觉yī jiàoHalfway through, the rabbit looked back: 'Haha! The tortoise is nowhere to be seen! I’ll take a nap first!'tǎngzài草地cǎo dìshàng呼噜hū lū呼噜hū lūde睡着了shuì zháo leIt lay down on the grass and fell asleep with a 'snore, snore.'

乌龟wū guīne从没cóng méi停下来tíng xià láiWhat about the tortoise? It never stopped.太阳tài yáng晒得shài de满头大汗mǎn tóu dà hàndàn还是hái shì一步yī bù一步yī bùdeThe sun made it sweat profusely, but it still crawled 'step by step'...

dāng兔子tù zi醒来xǐng láishí乌龟wū guī已经yǐ jīng快到kuài dào终点线zhōng diǎn xiànleWhen the rabbit woke up, the tortoise was already near the finish line!兔子tù zi拼命地pīn mìng depǎodàn已经yǐ jīng太晚tài wǎnle乌龟wū guīxiān跨过kuà guòle终点线zhōng diǎn xiànThe rabbit ran desperately, but it was too late—the tortoise crossed the finish line first!

森林sēn línde动物dòng wùmen欢呼huān hū乌龟wū guīyíngleThe animals in the forest cheered: 'The tortoise won!'

兔子tù zi红着脸hóng zhe liǎnshuō对不起duì bù qǐ不该bù gāi那么nà me骄傲jiāo àoThe rabbit said with a red face: 'I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have been arrogant.'

乌龟wū guī笑着xiào zheshuō坚持jiān chíjiùhuì胜利shèng lìThe tortoise said with a smile: 'Perseverance leads to victory!'

xiǎo道理dào lǐ🐢Little lesson:就算jiù suàn别人bié rénmànEven if you’re slower than others,只要zhǐ yào放弃fàng qì一步yī bù一步yī bù努力nǔ lì可能kě néng成功chéng gōngas long as you don’t give up and work hard step by step, you can still succeed!骄傲自大jiāo ào zì dà反而fǎn érhuìràngrén失败shī bàióBeing arrogant will only lead to failure!

Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.

More free stories: all classic fables and other Chinese reading practice · traditional characters · how graded readers work

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 650+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →