The Tortoise and the Slacker Easter Bunny

Once upon a time there was a slacker Easter Bunny who was always bragging about how he was faster than anyone.  (He claims that was how he delivered all the eggs while in truth, his wife did all the work.)  

And he was always teasing the tortoise for being so slow.

One day the tortoise, with a few drinks under his shell, had had enough.  "You think you're so fast," he said, "But I bet I could beat you."

This gave the Easter Bunny a good laugh.

"You?  Beat me?  Like that's gonna happen," the Easter Bunny said.  

This annoyed the tortoise even more.

The Easter Bunny continued.  "I could beat you with one paw tied behind my back."

The tortoise was steaming by now and (rather foolishly) accepted the challenge.  A course was mapped out, and the next day at dawn, the tortoise and the Easter Bunny were ready at the starting line.

The Easter Bunny was yawning as the now-sober tortoise started his slow trek along the track.  And quite honestly, the Easter Bunny was pretty sleepy, and decided to take a little nap before starting.

“Take your time!” he yelled at the tortoise. “I’ll catch some Zs and catch up with you before you hit the first marker."

Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep.  He slept and slept.

Finally he awoke with a start.  He looked around, fully expecting to see the tortoise plodding along nearby... and he was.

So the Easter Bunny decided to have some breakfast,  and went to find a nearby breakfast burrito.  The breakfast burrito, however, made the Easter Bunny sleepy again.  So, with a quick glance at the tortoise, the Easter Bunny settled in for a snooze, chuckling about how he'd leave the tortoise in the dust.  Soon he was snoring happily.

The sun started to sink slowly in the sky and the tortoise, who had been trucking all day, was within a foot of the finish line.  At that moment, the Easter Bunny awoke with a start.  He could see the tortoise far off in the distance.  

He leapt to his feet and started running as fast as he could, gasping and wheezing.  Just a little further and he’d be the first to cross the finish line.

But it was too late.  The tortoise had reached the finish line.

The Easter Bunny, tired and disgraced, collapsed by the tortoise, who was smiling silently.

"Bummer!" said the tortoise.  

“Slowly does it every time!”

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The Hippopotamus and the Tortoise

A Folktale from Nigeria

Many years ago the hippopotamus, whose name was Isantim, was one of the biggest kings on the land, second only to the elephant. 

The hippo had seven wives, all of them large and quite fat.  He was very fond of all of them. 

He was also fond of entertaining.  Now and then he put on a big feast for many guests.  But, as good a host as he was, and as appreciative as his guests were, no one, with the exception of the seven wives, knew the hippo's name. 

One evening, as the guests were about to sit down to the feast, the hippo made an announcement.  "You have come to dine at my table, yet not one of you knows my name.  You must tell me my name, or you shall have to leave without your dinner."

Dinner was looking very tasty.  And the guests were very hungry, having starved themselves all day so that they could better enjoy that night's feast.  But, alas, not one knew the hippo's name.

Hippo sent them away, their stomachs rumbling, looking back sadly at the table, which was heaped with delicious food and tombo [palm wine].

As he was leaving, the tortoise stopped to ask the hippo what he would do if he told him his name at the next gathering.  So the hippo replied that he would be quite ashamed of himself.  So ashamed, in fact, that he and his whole family would leave the land and go to dwell in the water for all eternity.  The tortoise thanked him and left.

The hippo and his wives had a custom.  Every morning, and every evening, they would go down to the river to wash themselves and have a drink.  The tortoise knew of this habit.


In their trek to the river, the hippo always walked in the lead, with his seven wives following him.  One day when they had gone down to the river to bathe, the tortoise made a small hole in the middle of the path.  Then he hid and waited.

When the hippo and his wives returned, two of the wives were lagging behind.  The tortoise crawled out from his hiding place and half-crawled into the hole, leaving his shell exposed.

One of the hippo wives hit her foot against the tortoise's shell.  She called out to her husband, "Oh! Isantim, my husband! I have hurt my foot."


The tortoise was so happy to hear this that he almost leaped out of the hole immediately, but he waited. 

A few days later the hippo again put on a feast for his guests, and again he cautioned them, "You must tell me my name, or you shall have to leave without your dinner."

The tortoise stood up, and said, "I will tell you your name, but first you must promise not to kill me for knowing it."  The hippo solemnly promised.


Then the tortoise shouted, at the top of his voice, "Your name is Isantim!" A cheer went up from all the guests.  And then they all sat down to dinner. 

When the feast was over, as per his promise, the hippo, followed by his seven wives, went down to the river, where they have lived ever since. 

And, while they do come out to feed at night, you will never find them on shore in the daytime.  And you will never be invited to another hippo feast. 

Hippos and tortoises can be found here and here.

A Hippo Tortoise Fairy Tale That's Not a Hippo Tortoise Fairy Tale

It sounds like a fable or a fairy tale. The main characters are an orphaned baby hippopotamus and a 130-year-old giant tortoise. The hippo was rescued from a natural disaster of biblical proportions, and the tortoise was meant to be dinner a century ago. But the story of Owen the hippo and Mzee the tortoise is absolutely true.

The animals are both the wards of Dr. Paula Kahumbu, general manager of Lafarge Ecosystems, which runs a sanctuary in Mombasa, Kenya. She tells Jennifer Ludden the story of a highly unlikely friendship and the children's book she helped write to tell the tale.

December 26th, 2004 started off as a normal, quiet day. My son Joshua and I were out for a morning walk along the beach in front of my home when suddenly the sea began to race in. Within minutes the ocean became threatening. The tide had risen well beyond the high water mark. At that instant it became apparent the Tsunami that had started nearly 4,000 miles away far across the Indian Ocean would impact us as well. In less than 12 hours the Tsunami had finally reached the coast of Africa from its point of origin in Banda Aceh.

We ran from the beach back to my house where my sister and her children were waiting for us. They were all crying having just seen on television the haunting images of the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami. Although we escaped the waves, a one year old hippopotamus 80 kilometers away was not as lucky. 

Just before Christmas the unseasonably heavy rains near Malindi town washed a family of hippopotamuses down the Sabaki River and out to sea. The residents of the town tried in vain to urge the family back up the estuary. When the Tsunami hit Malindi, the sea turned angry, the sky clouded over and for a moment the hippos disappeared and were forgotten as all efforts went to rescuing the stranded fishermen. 

The next day only one hippo could be seen. It was the baby and he was stranded on the reef. Hundreds of people came to watch the efforts to rescue the hippo. It took ropes, boats, nets and cars —though the hippo was tired he was still fast and slippery. It took a brave rugby tackle to finally capture him, and the cheering of the crowd could be heard over a kilometer away.

Lafarge Eco Systems agreed to provide a home for the baby hippo and I rushed to Malindi to collect him. Tangled in fishing ropes, angry and tired, the hippo did not seem to appreciate our rescue at all. As we left for Mombasa, the crowd unanimously agreed to name him 'Owen' in honor of the volunteer who tackled him to the ground. 

Exhausted, confused and extremely frightened, Owen immediately ran to the safety of a giant tortoise when we released him in Haller Park. Mzee, our 130 year old tortoise, just happened to be nearby and he was very surprised by Owen's odd behavior cowering behind him as a baby hippo does to its mother. Mzee quickly came to terms with his new friend and even returned signs of affection. The unusual relationship between this baby hippo and the ancient tortoise amazed people the world over and has featured in most countries on television and in news papers. 

Owen and Mzee continue to spend their days together in the pond, feeding and patrolling. Owen nudges Mzee to come for walks, and Mzee sometimes even follows Owen. 

Hundreds of people have witnessed this incredible spectacle first hand at Haller Park which is open every day to the public. Owen will eventually be moved to a bigger pond in Haller Park were he can socialize with other hippos. 

The NPR version, by Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Chief Environmentalist, Haller Park
Mombasa, Kenya

The charm version here and here.