Prevod

A prize had been offered—indeed, there were two, a small one and a large one—for the greatest speed, not in a single race, but, so to speak, in running all the year round.

"Well, I won first prize!" said the Hare. "There must be some justice when one's own family and good friends are on the council; but I find it almost insulting that the Snail should have won second prize!"

"No," declared the Gatepost, who had witnessed the awarding of the prizes, "diligence and goodwill must also be taken into account. Several respectable persons said so, and I understood that myself. The Snail did take half a year to get across the doorstep, but he broke his thighbone in what was, for him, such a rush. He lived for his running and nothing else, and he ran with his house on his back! All that is worthy of respect! And so he won second prize!"

"Surely I might have been considered too!" said the Swallow. "I don't believe anyone has proved faster than I am in flight and in wheeling about, and just think how far I've travelled—far, far, far!"

"Yes, that is your misfortune!" said the Gatepost. "You roam about too much! You always have to be off, out of the country, as soon as it begins to freeze here. You have no love of your native land! You cannot be considered!"

"But suppose I stayed in the marsh all winter?" said the Swallow. "Slept the whole time away—would I be considered then?"