"Oh, hush!" said the Fly. "As for me, I won't make a speech; I just want to say one word. I know for certain that I've outrun more than one hare. The other day I broke the hind legs of a young one. I was sitting on the railway engine at the front of the train. I often do that; you can see your own speed so well there. For a long time a young hare ran in front of the engine - he had no idea I was there. At last, just as he was going to turn off the tracks, the locomotive ran over his hind legs and broke them, because I was sitting on it. He remained lying there, but I passed on. That was certainly outrunning him; but I don't need the prize."
"It seems to me," thought the wild Rose, although she didn't speak it out loud - it was not her nature to express her ideas openly, though it might have been a good thing to do - "it seems to me that the Sunbeam should have had the first prize, and the second, too. It crosses in a moment the limitless space from the sun to us and brings such power that all nature is awakened by it. And under its beauty we roses blush and become fragrant. These high and mighty judges don't seem to have noticed it at all. If I were a Sunbeam I'd give them each a sunstroke! But then, it would only make them crazy, and they'll probably be that, anyway. No, I won't say anything," thought the wild Rose. It's peaceful here in the woods; it's delightful to bloom, to shed fragrant perfume everywhere, to live in story and in song! But the Sunbeams will outlive all of us."
"What's the first prize?" asked the Earthworm, who had overslept and just now arrived.
"Free entrance to a kitchen garden," said the Mule. "I suggested that prize. The Hare must and should have it; as a clear-thinking and rational member of the committee, this seemed to me a sensible way of looking at it. I was determined that he should have it, so now the Hare is provided for. The Snail has permission to sit on the stone fence and enjoy the moss and sunshine; and in addition to this, he has been appointed one of the head judges of the next race. It is sensible to have one who has practical knowledge of the business at hand sitting on a committee, as the humans calls it. I must say I expect a great deal from the future - we have already made such a sound beginning!"