You may know the Turtle and the Hare, but have you heard about the Carabao-Turtle Race? (Bet you can't guess where this goes...)
One hot morning, Carabao was walking down the road looking for water. He met Turtle who was crawling. Now, Turtle wanted to befriend Carabao. He struck up a conversation, eager to help. He offered to show Carabao to the nearest pond. Impatiently, Carabao asked for directions, eventually saying that it would take too long if he followed Turtle!
This hurt Turtle's feelings. He asked if Carabao thought he was as slow as Snail! Of course, Carabao agreed, saying Snail and Turtle were slow because they carried their houses on their backs.
That was when Turtle challenged Carabao to a race! At first, Carabao declined. He thought his friends Cow, Bull, and Horse would make fun of him even entertaining a race against Turtle. He turned to walk away, but Turtle taunted Carabao saying he would tell the whole kingdom Carabao was a coward.
Carabao stopped and turned around. He couldn't let that happen! He agreed to a race. Over three hills, the Turtle requested. Boastfully, Carabao said they would race over seven hills. Turtle agreed.
The race would be in three days, so Carabao could invite his friends. Turtle was relieved to have time to make plans.
Turtle called seven of his friends to split the race. They all agreed to beat the Carabao.
On the day of the race, they met near the first hill. When the race began, Carabao sauntered as if he had all the time in the world. He soon lost sight of Turtle as he trudged ahead.When he reached the top of the first hill, he was surprised to see Turtle. Turtle jumped up and down when he saw Carabao and went down the hill.
Surprised, Carabao picked up the pace and got the the second hill. Turtle was already there.
Carabao trotted to the third hill. Again, Turtle appeared at the top!
This went on and on to each hill. By the time Carabao reached the seventh hill, he was running!
But Turtle was already there, ahead of Carabao. Turtle had won.
Carabao thought he shouldn't have lost to Turtle. In his anger, he kicked Turtle Number Seven so hard, he flew in the air! But since Turtles have hard shells, he wasn't hurt. In fact, his shell hurt Carabao. As Carabao cried in pain, he looked at his hoof! It was split in two. And that's why Carabaos have split hooves.
A quick retelling by Shilyn Montgomery
*We were told on by kaistagram on Threads that an addition to complete this story is: "That's why turtles have cracks on their shells."