The Ox Who Won the Forfeit, Ellen C. Babbitt
The Turtle Who Won the Forfeit
Once upon a time there was a very fast turtle. He was so fast he could beat some humans in a race.
Every year a town had a turtle racing festival. The owner took his turtle, Tom, to this tournament. The master Sam, was ecstatic. Sam knew he could make a fortune betting on Tom. He had never seen a turtle move so fasted in all his life.
On the day of the race Sam bet all of his money that Tom would win. Sam was so worked up and nervous that he had just bet so much money that he started taking it out on Tom. Sam had never been mean to Tom before but on the day of the race he was unbearable. He said all kinds of nasty things to Tom. He told him that he was not that great of a turtle, and that if he did not win the race he would not love him anymore. Tom started to get upset and his feeling were hurt. Right before the race started Sam started hitting Tom right on the Shell with a stick. This was the last straw for Tom. Whenever the gunshot went of that marked the beginning of the race Tom refused to move. He held his ground and let all the slower turtles win. Sam was upset now, he had no money and really hurt his best friend Tom.
Sam apologized to Tom and asked Tom to forgive him. Tom accepted Sam's apology and told him he would race again the next day as long as he never treated Tom in that mean way again. Sam agreed.
The next day Sam bet twice what he had the day before. Everyone thought he was crazy because he had just lost so much money on the same turtle the day before. When the race started Tom immediately blew all the other turtles out of the water. Sam won all his money back and more, and Tom was the talk of the town for the next 10 years. They both remained friends for the rest of their days.
Summary.
This story is based on "The Ox who won the Forfeit" Tom is the parallel to the Ox, and Sam is the parallel to the owner.
