Marapets Story: The Leido and the Lati

The Leido and the Lati

Once upon a time, in a small place named Lush Lake, there was a Lati who was faster than any other creature around. He boasted daily about the thousands of Olympic medals he owned, claiming that no one in the whole of Marada could ever beat him.

One day an old Leido, sick and tired of the Lati's constant boasting and belittlement of the other creatures, challenged the Lati to a race. The Leido was old and slow, but he was confident and sure of himself. The Lati laughed for a while but, never the less, he accepted the challenge.

So it was decided that the two were to race ten laps of the Olympic running track and the first to cross the finish line would be champion. Dozens of spectators came to watch - some cheering for the Lati, some cheering for the Leido.

When the race began, the Lati sped away quickly, leaving the old Leido to plod slowly behind, disappearing further and further out of sight. This race was too easy, he thought. The old Leido must have been completely out of his mind.

The first time the Lati lapped the Leido, the poor old Leido was only a quarter of the way around the track. The second time he lapped the Leido, he was only half way around the track. The Lati continued to lap and lap the Leido until he found himself on his final lap.

'With so much time to spare,' he thought, 'I might as well stop for a drink.' And so the Lati left the race track and disappeared into the local Coffee shop. Ordering a large glass of warm milk - his favourite - the Lati watched the Leido crawl around the track, wondering why on earth the Leido had thought he could win.

By the time the Lati left the Coffee shop, the Leido was on his fifth lap. The sun was beating down hard so the Lati decided that he would take a nap by the lake, finishing the race with time to spare when he woke up. As he settled down, the Leido plodded on, never wavering from his slow pace.

With the warm milk in his stomach, the Lati slept and slept and slept. But surely this would do him no harm because the Leido was so far behind. However, it was the sound of loud cheering - louder than ever before - that woke the Lati from his sleep. With a start, he leapt up, searching frantically for the old Leido. In the distance, there he was, plodding along towards the end of a lap at his tediously slow pace. Of course, this was fine, he thought, he must still be laps away from finishing. But then the Lati saw it. A red ribbon had been drawn out over the finishing post.

Realising the Leido was close to finishing the race, the Lati sprang to the race track and ran and ran as fast as he could, desperately trying to catch the Leido up. He ran with his ears down and his tongue sticking out, panting and sweating. But just before the Lati could catch up to the Leido, the Leido's long neck went through the red ribbon and the crowd erupted with cheers.

Feeling ashamed and defeated, the Lati hung his head low as the Leido smiled at the crowds. When he was done taking in their praise, the Leido turned to the Lati and said,

"Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how much stronger you seem to be. You cannot win everything simply by being the fastest. Sometimes, being slow but never giving up is the key to success."