` It is no use trying to frighten me , ' replied the tortoise . ` But I should like three days for training ; then I shall be ready to start when the sun strikes on the big tree at the edge of the great clearing . ' The first thing the tortoise did was to call his brothers and his cousins together , and he posted them carefully under ferns all along the line of the great clearing , making a sort of ladder which stretched for many miles . This done to his satisfaction , he went back to the starting place . The stag was quite punctual , and as soon as the sun 's rays struck the trunk of the tree the stag started off , and was soon far out of the sight of the tortoise . Every now and then he would turn his head as he ran , and call out : ` How are you getting on ? ' and the tortoise who happened to be nearest at that moment would answer : ` All right , I am close up to you . ' Full of astonishment , the stag would redouble his efforts , but it was no use . Each time he asked : ` Are you there ? ' the answer would come : ` Yes , of course , where else should I be ? ' And the stag ran , and ran , and ran , till he could run no more , and dropped down dead on the grass . And the tortoise , when he thinks about it , laughs still . But the tortoise was not the only creature of whose tricks stories were told in the forest . There was a famous monkey who was just as clever and more mischievous , because he was so much quicker on his feet and with his hands . It was quite impossible to catch him and give him the thrashing he so often deserved , for he just swung himself up into a tree and laughed at the angry victim who was sitting below . Sometimes , however , the inhabitants of the forest were so foolish as to provoke him , and then they got the worst of it . This was what happened to the barber , whom the monkey visited one morning , saying that he wished to be shaved . The barber bowed politely to his customer , and begging him to be seated , tied a large cloth round his neck , and rubbed his chin with soap ; but instead of cutting off his beard , the barber made a snip at the end of his tail . It was only a very little bit and the monkey started up more in rage than in pain . ` Give me back the end of my tail , ' he roared , ` or I will take one of your razors . '
The barber refused to give back the missing piece , so the monkey caught up a razor from the table and ran away with it , and no one in the forest could be shaved for XXXXX , as there was not another to be got for miles and miles .
bit days first morning razors right snip thrashing use victim