Text 5 of 5 · Track finale · track for English speakers
The Hare and the Tortoise
The English track finale: one complete fable with all the hard letters at once — Š, Č, J and Dž. (The soft Ć and Đ live in text 04.)
Text source: Aesop, retold by Joseph Jacobs (1854–1916), “The Hare and the Tortoise” (1894)
Read with Serbian letters
Blue characters are Gajica letters. Read out loud, then compare with the original spelling using the button below.
The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never jet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I čallenge any one here to race with me."
The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept jour čallenge."
"That is a good džoke," said the Hare; "I could dance round jou all the way."
"Keep jour boasting till jou’ve beaten," answered the Tortoise. "Šall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to šow his contempt for the Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise džust near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race. Then said the Tortoise:
"Plodding wins the race."
Which letters appear here
- Š
- SH as in shop
- Č
- CH as in chair
- J
- Y as in yes
- Dž
- J as in judge
FAQ
Where does this text come from?
Aesop’s fable retold by Joseph Jacobs in 1894. Jacobs died in 1916, so this version is public domain worldwide — free to read and adapt.
Which letters does the finale train?
Š (Šall, šow), Č (čallenge), J (jet, jou, jour) and Dž (džoke, džust). The soft Ć and Đ don’t occur here — revise them in text 04.
How do I read “džoke” and “džust”?
Dž is a single sound, close to J in “judge”. Read “džoke” and “džust” exactly like “joke” and “just” — the spelling only shows that Serbian writes this sound with one letter.