I read an entry today at the laundromat about a German take on the classic fable about the Tortoise and the Hare.  In the classic Aesopian fable, the moral of the story is that hard work and determination wins over lazy ability.  The moral of the German fable is much more controvertial.

Most people who hear the German fable would think "wow, what a cheater" and think the moral of the story is "cheating wins".  This is not what the moral of the story is.  Here is the fable:

The Hare and the Hedgehog

One sunday morning the hedgehog was standing by his door with his arms akimbo, enjoying the morning breezes, and slowly trilling a little song to himself.

Whilst he was thus singing half aloud to himself, it suddenly occurred to him that, while his wife was washing and drying the children, he might very well take a walk into the field, and see how his turnips were getting on.

He had not gone very far from home when he observed the hare who had gone out on business of the same kind, namely, to visit his cabbages. When the hedgehog caught sight of the hare, he bade him a friendly good morning. But the hare, who was in his own way a distinguished gentleman, and frightfully haughty, did not return the hedgehog's greeting, but said to him, assuming at the same time a very contemptuous manner, how do you happen to be running about here in the field so early in the morning.

I am taking a walk, said the hedgehog.

A walk, said the hare, with a smile. It seems to me that you might use your legs for a better purpose.

This answer made the hedgehog furiously angry, for he can bear anything but a reference too his legs, just because they are crooked by nature. So now the hedgehog said to the hare, you seem to imagine that you can do more with your legs than I with mine.

That is just what I do think, said the hare.

That can be put to the test, said the hedgehog. I wager that if we run a race, I will outstrip you.

That is ridiculous. You with your short legs, said the hare, but for my part I am willing, if you have such a monstrous fancy for it.

What shall we wager. A golden louis-d'or and a bottle of brandy, said the hedgehog.

Done, said the hare. Shake hands on it, and then we may as well begin at once.

Nay, said the hedgehog, there is no such great hurry. I am still fasting, I will go home first, and have a little breakfast. In half-an-hour I will be back again at this place. Hereupon the hedgehog departed, for the hare was quite satisfied with this.

On his way the hedgehog thought to himself, the hare relies on his long legs, but I will contrive to get the better of him. He may be a great man, but he is a very silly fellow, and he shall pay for what he has said. So when the hedgehog reached home, he said to his wife, wife, dress yourself quickly, you must go out to the field with me.

What is going on, then, said his wife.

I have made a wager with the hare, for a gold louis-d'or and a bottle of brandy. I am to run a race with him, and you must be present.

Good heavens, husband, the wife now cried, are you not right in your mind, have you completely lost your wits. What can make you want to run a race with the hare.

Hold your tongue, woman, said the hedgehog, that is my affair. Don't begin to discuss things which are matters for men. Be off, dress yourself, and come with me.

What could the hedgehog's wife do. She was forced to obey him, whether she liked it or not. So when they had set out on their way together, the hedgehog said to his wife, now pay attention to what I am going to say. Look you, I will make the long field our race-course. The hare shall run in one furrow, and when the hare arrives at the end of the furrow on the other side of you, you must cry out to him, I am here already. Then they reached the field, and the hedgehog showed his wife her place, and then walked up the field. When he reached the top, the hare was already there.

Shall we start, said the hare.

Certainly, said the hedgehog.

Then both at once. So saying, each placed himself in his own furrow. The hare counted, once, twice, thrice, and away, and went off like a whirlwind down the field. The hedgehog, however, only ran about three paces, and then he crouched down in the furrow, and stayed quietly where he was. When the hare therefore arrived at full speed at the lower end of the field, the hedgehog's wife met him with the cry, I am here already. The hare was shocked and wondered not a little, he thought no other than that it was the hedgehog himself who was calling to him, for the hedgehog's wife looked just like her husband. The hare, however, thought to himself, that has not been done fairly, and cried, it must be run again, let us have it again. And once more he went off like the wind in a storm, so that he seemed to fly. But the hedgehog's wife stayed quietly in her place. So when the hare reached the top of the field, the hedgehog himself cried out to him, I am here already. The hare, however, quite beside himself with anger, cried, it must be run again, we must have it again.

All right, answered the hedgehog, for my part we'll run as often as you choose.

So the hare ran seventy-three times more, and the hedgehog always held out against him, and every time the hare reached either the top or the bottom, either the hedgehog or his wife said, I am here already. At the seventy-fourth time, however, the hare could no longer reach the end. In the middle of the field he fell to the ground, blood streamed out of his mouth, and he lay dead on the spot. But the hedgehog took the louis-d'or which he had won and the bottle of brandy, called his wife out of the furrow, and both went home together in great delight, and if they are not dead, they are living there still.

What's the moral of the story?

One moral is that the clever and weak will defeat the powerful but stupid.  Another is that deception is often the best weapon of all.  It has nothing to do with cheating and playing fair.  Fair would have been hare vs. hare.  The premise of hare vs. hedgehog wasn't fair to begin with.

The hare believes there is no way he can lose.  The hedgehog deceives the hare by having his wife at the one end and himself at the other, out of the view of the hare.  The hedgehog takes advantage of the hare's belief.  One of the key elements in deception in warfare is to take what the opponent believes and to build upon that and guide him to where you want him.  When the hare loses, he commits further strength and effort.  And he loses again.  The hare tries harder.  And harder.  Until he drops dead.

Historically, the Germans have a basis for this fable -- the Germans emerged from under the iron fist of Rome by playing into the Romans' idea that they were invincible under all conditions.  The Germanic tribal warriors, under Arminius in 9AD led the 17th, 18th and 19th Roman Legions under Publicus Quinctilius Varus into the Teutoburg forest and stretched them out into an undefendable, disordered line and then fell upon them from all sides -- annihilating the entire Roman army.

The Germans could never fight the Romans in a "fair" fight (fair by Roman standards), so they instituted a campaign based on their advantages.  Eventually the Germans and other peoples the Romans saw as "barbarians" sacked Rome itself because Rome, like the hare, failed to adapt to the changing state of warfare.

Move ahead almost two thousand years.

The United States is like the hare, moving into Vietnam to suppress the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong.  Like the hare and the hedgehog, this was never a fair fight.  The North Vietnamese would never have been able to fight a "fair" fight against the United States.  Instead, they take advantage of the American mentality that they are so powerful that they cannot lose.  The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong use deception and irregular, unconventional warfare strategies against the United States.  The United States continues, like the hare, to try harder and harder -- unable to understand and cope with the unconventional strategies of their enemy... until the hare drops dead (the United States withdraws).

The heart of the fable:  The hare took the obvious shortcoming and disadvantage and reversed it brilliantly into an advantage that led to victory.