There was a snapping turtle who lived quietly in a Wisconsin pond. Mostly he lay very still and quiet but when a piece of food drifted past him his jaws snapped open and shut with terrifying speed. When he was disturbed by such things as a small child's wading foot, he was quite capable of snapping it right off without any compunction at all.
A jackrabbit also lived near the pond. The jackrabbit loved to run about on his big strong legs. He liked to boast about how fast he could run. He liked to tease the snapping turtle.
``Stick-in-the-mud!'' he would cry out as he leapt about on the edge of the pond.
``Come and join me in the pond,'' the turtle would say, ``then I'll show you whose a stick-in-the-mud!'' But the jackrabbit wasn't that dumb.
``Why don't you come out of the pond and join me in a race? You have legs, don't you?''
The turtle submerged into the cool and pleasant mud and thought for a while.
``Aha!'' he said to himself, and allowed a quiet, turtle smile.
A couple of days later the jackrabbit was dancing at the pond's edge again.
``I've been thinking about what you said,'' the turtle murmured.
``Er - what did I say?'' asked the forgetful jackrabbit.
``You said let's race.''
``Sure,'' said the jackrabbit, ``why not?''
The turtle crawled slowly out of the pond and lined himself up by the jackrabbit.
``One, two, three GO!'' said the jackrabbit. The jackrabbit, to be honest, was off the mark on the count of three, but he was not as fast as the turtle, who snapped off the jackrabbit's left rear leg as he took his first leap forward. But the jackrabbit just laughed and ran on on his three powerful legs.
``I win! I win!'' he shouted at the finish. He did feel a little faint.
The turtle did not hear. He had returned to the pond and was resting quietly in the mud.