The tortoise teaches us about perseverance

Melvin Durai

There’s an old saying that “slow and steady wins the race.” Many people believe that it’s the moral of the fable “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The hare grabbed a big lead in the race, got complacent and took a nap before the finish line. The tortoise just kept walking and won the race. “Slow and steady” certainly applies to this fable, but the true moral of the story might be this: “You snooze, you lose.” I don’t know if Molly, a tortoise in Manitoba, Canada, was racing a hare, but it recently escaped from its home and was found 20 km away. It had either walked the entire distance or caught an Uber. (Hitchhiking is also a possibility, but tortoises do not have thumbs.) Molly is a 15-year-old African spurred tortoise who had been missing for two weeks before she was spotted at Oak Hammock Marsh nature preserve.

African spurred tortoises are native to the Sahara Desert. Being from a desert, it is perhaps not too surprising that Molly had managed to desert her owner. But staff at the nature preserve were surprised to discover that Molly’s owner lived 20 km away. That’s a long distance for a tortoise. It’s also a long distance for humans, many of whom would find it necessary to use wheels, not feet. The debate would not be wheels versus feet. Rather, it would be about the type of wheels: bike wheels, car wheels, bus wheels or train wheels. The tortoise does not need wheels, because the tortoise is not trying to get anywhere fast. The tortoise does not need to run away from anyone; nor does it need a medal from the Tortoise Olympics. The tortoise never asks, “Who is the fastest among us?” The tortoise asks, “Who among us never gives up?”

Instead of outrunning its predators, the tortoise pulls its head, legs and tail into its shell and displays a sign that says, “Closed for the day.” It also hides from predators by burrowing into the ground or using camouflage to blend into its surroundings. Molly, the tortoise in Manitoba, must have done some hiding during those two weeks, but she also did a lot of walking. Gillian Malchuk, a nature interpreter at Oak Hammock Marsh who gave Molly a temporary home before her owner was identified, believes it’s possible that the tortoise walked the entire distance. “I wouldn’t put it past her,” Malchuk told CTV News. “I did get to spend some time with Molly and she’s a pretty strong spirit and quite the Houdini in my yard.” But it’s more likely, she believes, that Molly caught a Tortoise Taxi: a ride from a good Samaritan. A motorist may have spotted her on the road, picked her up and dropped her off at the nature preserve, believing that she belonged there. It takes a lot of kindness to do that. Most people would just take a video of the tortoise and post it online, with a message such as this: “If you think this tortoise is slow, you should visit Parliament.”

I prefer to believe that Molly just kept walking, like the tortoise who beat the hare. But whatever the case, tortoises can teach us a lot about perseverance. Humans love to go fast, but there are many tortoises among us, people who pursue a goal relentlessly, no matter how long it takes. They may beat the hare, but what they really care about is finishing — getting the job done. Whether they’re running a marathon, writing a book, composing a piece of music or constructing a building, they know that it is better to finish something slowly than to not finish it at all.