10 - 12 pages (2500 -3000 words) DUE: NOV 27 You will need to consult with at least three to five academic research papers (includes a bibliography), in addition to the class articles and any other so

Bears Race with Turtle

One fine snowy day, Bear was walking through the snow in the forest. When he walked
up on a little hill and stood up on his hind legs he was so much taller than anything else
he could see, that he was very proud. Bear loved to brag about how splendid he was,
so he thumped himself on the chest and roared, "I'M THE BIGGEST ANIMAL IN THE FOREST!" And nobody made a sound, because Bear really was awfully big.
Bear got an itchy spot on his back, so he walked through the snow to a little tree,
leaned against it and wiggled around. While he was scratching, the whole tree broke
with a snap! Bear was so impressed with how strong he was, once more he roared out,
"I'M THE STRONGEST ANIMAL IN THE FOREST!"
And nobody said anything, because Bear really was very strong.
Bear began to run down off that little hill. Now, every human child learns very early that
you can run like the wind downhill. But Bear was so impressed with how fast he could
run, he skidded to a halt by a little frozen lake and roared, "I'M THE FASTEST ANIMAL
IN THE FOREST!"
Then Bear heard a little voice pipe up from the edge of the lake, "No you're not, Bear!
I'm a lot faster than you!" "WHAT?!" Bear couldn't believe his ears. Then he couldn't
believe his eyes! Because that voice little green water turtle, who was sticking his head
up through a hole in the ice.
Turtle said it again, "Really Bear, I'm a lot faster than you are." Bear and Turtle began
to disagree, then to argue, and then they began to make so much noise that the other
animals came to see what was going on. A great argument was in the making when it
was decided that the only way to settle the question was to have a race between Bear
and Turtle. The animals reached a general agreement: the race would be around the
lake. But then Turtle said, "I am a water animal, so I'll have to race in the lake."
Bear objected, "You must think I'm pretty stupid! You can just dive under the ice, then
come back up and say you won!" Though the animals did think he was pretty stupid, he
had a point. So, a solution was agreed upon. Bear who was a land animal, would race
around the lake, while Turtle would swim from one hole in the ice to another, put his
head up and say something. Fox, who had no reason to cheat in this case, was chosen
to be the starter and judge, and the race was scheduled for the next day.
The next morning, Elk, who had the biggest feet, was chosen to punch holes in the ice
every few feet. All the animals had heard about the race and come to see it. Almost all
the spectators were making bets, and because most of them were so tired of listening
to Bear brag, the bets were heavily in favor of Turtle.
Fox called the racers to his side." Are you ready Bear?"
Now Bear had been warming up, doing exercises, and getting in some last-minute bragging, so he yawned and said, "Yeah, I'm ready."
Fox asked, "Are you ready Turtle?"
And Turtle at his first hole in the ice said, "I'm ready!"
"Alright," said Fox, "once around the lake and back to me. Now RUN!"
​Turtle dived under the water, and Bear began to just walk, waving casually to his
friends, just to prove how easy this was going to be. But Bear had only taken a couple
of steps when Turtle's head came up in the second hole in the ice. Turtle said, "Come
on Bear catch up with me!" And Turtle dived under and went on. Bear was
flabbergasted! This turtle was faster than he thought, so Bear began to jog a little
faster. But only three steps farther, Turtles head popped up at the next hole. He said
"Come on Bear catch up with me!" then dived under and went on. Now Bear knew he
had to run! He dropped to all fours and began to run as fast as he could. But before
Bear passed the third hole, Turtle came up at the fourth hole and said, "come on Bear,
I'm way ahead of you!"
Bear ran as fast, his tongue drooping further out of his mouth, so out of breath he
thought he would drop. But, that turtle just kept getting further and further ahead,
each time popping out of a hole to say, "Come on, Bear. Catch up with me!" Until
finally, when Bear was only half way around the lake, Turtle finished the race.
A great cheer went up from among the other animal, Turtle is the fastest animal in the
forest!" Even those that hadn't bet on Turtle came down to congratulate him and shake
is clawed foot and pat his shell. And Bear? Well, Bear was so exhausted, and so
humiliated that he didn't even finish the race. He turned and went to his house, which
was a cave, and slept the rest of the winter.
And to this day, Bears sleep all winter, so they don't have to remember losing that race to a turtle!
There was a big party and feast in Turtle's honor, and then, finally, everyone went home.
Now Turtle looked around carefully, making sure everyone was gone. Then he crawled
down to the edge of the ice, stuck out his clawed foot and rapped three times on the
ice. Suddenly, up through the holes in the ice came Turtle's brothers and sisters, his
mom and dad, his aunts, uncles and cousins near and distant, even his grandma and
grandpa turtles were there, and every one of them looked exactly like Turtle!
Turtle said, "Thank you, my kinfolks. Today we have proved though we turtles may be slow of
foot, we are not slow of wit!"