The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

Chapter 19 • The Tortoise and the Hare Revisited 105
“‘But that’s not possible!’ said Lysander, drumming his feet in a
rage. ‘It’s not fair!’
“‘That’s what the king said, too,’ answered the tortoise. ‘It’s not
fair that some of his subjects should have better mail service than
others. So he gave me an exclusive monopoly to insure the same
quality of service for all.’
“Angrily, Lysander scolded the tortoise saying, ‘How did you
get him to do this? What did you offer him?’
“A tortoise cannot smile easily, but he managed to curl up a
scale at the side of his mouth. ‘I have assured the king that he
will be able to send all of his messages for free. And, of course, I
reminded him that having all correspondence of the realm in loyal
hands would make it easier for him to oversee the behaviour of
rebellious subjects. If I should lose a letter here or there, well, who’s
to complain?’
“‘But you always lost money delivering the mail!’ declared the
hare irritably. ‘Who’ll pay for that?’
“‘The king will set a price assuring my profi ts. If people stop
mailing letters, taxes will cover my losses. After awhile no one will
remember that I ever had a rival.’” Grandma looked up adding,
“THE END.”
“The moral of this story,” read Rose, “is that you can always turn
to authority when you have special problems.”
Little Davy repeated, “You can always turn to authority when
you have special problems. I’ll remember to do that, Grandma.”
“No, dear, that’s only what it says in the book. It may be better
for you to fi nd your own moral.”
“Grandma?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Can animals talk?”
“Only birds talk, child. This is just a fairy tale, not the Great
Bard.”
“Tell me about the Great Bard, Grandma.”
She chuckled. “How many times have you heard it already? Bard
is the wise condor who roams the seven seas, from the icy peaks of