KOREA FOUNDATION

IN CURATION

In the famous race between the hare and the tortoise, the tortoise wins.
But who wins the race between the snail and the deer?

The story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” shows that it is okay to be slow and encourages people not to give up until the end. It is a fairy tale that Korean adults and children alike enjoy reading. In the Philippines, there is a fairy tale featuring a snail and a deer instead of a tortoise and a hare. The story is similar, but the characters are somewhat different. Fairy tales are entertaining and give us some food for thought. What is the message of the Philippine fairy tale of “The Race Between the Snail and the Deer?”

“The Race between the Snail and the Deer”: A Philippine Fairy Tale

There once was a peaceful mangrove forest. A snail was spending its day leisurely, looking at jasmine flowers like any other day. Suddenly, a deer dashed by from afar and jumped over the flowers, breaking their gentle stems. Upon watching this, the snail suggested racing the deer, who was disturbing the peace of the forest. Being the fastest in the mangrove forest, the deer was certain it would beat the snail and gladly accepted the offer. As soon as the race started, the deer quickly outran the snail.

However, after running nonstop, the deer panicked in front of the finish line. The snail was leading, something the deer thought impossible. Eventually, the deer was exhausted from running all day and collapsed before the finish line, and the snail became the winner of the race. How did this happen? The snail won was because it cooperated with other snail friends for the peace of the forest, and each of them took over a section to run.

“In fact, I was not alone. We all ran together. That’s why we won.”

The snail, as the winner of the race, asked the deer not to run around and bother the friends in the forest. After that, the deer no longer ran quickly through the forest to threaten other living beings.

The Philippine fairy tale “The Race between the Snail and the Deer” tells us that, while it is difficult to do something alone, you can achieve anything if you work together. This tale and “The Tortoise and the Hare” feature different animals as protagonists, but both stories provide readers with important lessons and courage. The two tales also show that, although people live in different regions and speak different languages, they enjoy similar stories and share similar values. Reading such tales from the ASEAN countries allows people to learn something new.