- Oh, slowpoke, what are you doing here?
- Oh, I'm just sitting around.
- Wow, you're slow as a snail. Let's have a dance competition and see who wins and who loses!
- It's late today, Rabbit. Let's compete tomorrow morning!
- Yes, let's do the exam tomorrow morning.
The Snail knew that he was no match for the Rabbit, so he thought of a way to defeat the Rabbit. That evening, the Snail's family gathered and assigned everyone to wait everywhere, in case the Rabbit called, they had to answer:
- Click! If you hear Rabbit calling me, whoever is nearby must answer! The person waiting here must answer, the person waiting in the forest must answer, everyone must answer!
The Snail family agrees:
- Yes, let us speak for you.
The next morning, Rabbit walked around with a proud expression and said in a condescending tone:
- Where's the snail? Let's dance!
The snail said as he walked slowly:
- Yes, jump then jump!
Then they both jumped. After jumping for a while, Rabbit called Snail.
- Snail!
- Cup!
- Hey, are you in front?
- Yes, I'm in front.
The rabbit jumped headfirst, jumped to the other hill, and called again:
- Snail!
- Cup!
- Hey, are you in front?
- Yes, I'm in front.
The rabbit jumped again, jumped to the other forest. The rabbit called again:
- Snail!
-Cup!
- Hey, are you in front?
- Yes, I'm in front.
- Oh my, why is this happening? Why are you in front? You're so fast, Snail?
- I'm really fast. I got there first, I got here first, I'm faster than you. I got there first, I got here first, you lost to me.
Hearing Snail say that and seeing that he was always behind, Rabbit was very angry. He jumped headfirst to be faster, lost his balance and slipped. Rabbit fell headfirst into the stream and was swept away by the water and died there.
The story implies that in life, we have witnessed many people who were given special abilities and talents but quickly went down the wrong path because they were blinded by victory and looked down on others. The rabbit in the story is an example. The rabbit symbolizes agility and resourcefulness, an innate talent that can surpass many people without practice. However, it also symbolizes human arrogance. Because of being too confident and looking down on opponents, it leads to a painful defeat.
Confidence is a good human trait, but if you are too confident, you will become subjective and underestimate your opponent. Talented people who are lazy, boastful, and “haste makes waste” can easily fall asleep in their own delusions, dragging themselves backwards, losing to those who are much weaker than them.Y Son selected from the collection of Ede folk tales, collected by Nguyen Minh Tam, H'Pliêr Nie Kdăm, H'Juaih Nie Kdăm. Ho Chi Minh City National University Publishing House - 2015.
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