Write a story to illustrate the saying: Pride goes before a fall.

Answer Details

Pride Goes Before a Fall

Ada was, without doubt, the finest runner our school had ever produced. She had won the hundred metres for three years running, and each victory made her a little prouder than the last. By the time the inter-house sports of her final year came round, she had stopped training altogether. “Why should I sweat,” she boasted to anyone who would listen, “when the race is already mine before it begins?”

While Ada lounged in the shade and mocked the other athletes, a quiet new girl named Bisi rose before dawn each morning to train. Nobody paid her much attention. She had no medals and made no boasts; she simply ran, day after day, until her legs grew strong and her breathing steady.

The great day arrived. As the runners crouched at the starting line, Ada waved lazily to the cheering crowd, certain of yet another triumph. The whistle blew. For the first thirty metres Ada led, but her untrained legs soon began to tire. Bisi, calm and well prepared, drew level, then surged ahead, and crossed the line a clear stride in front. The stadium fell silent, then erupted, not for Ada, but for the unknown girl who had dethroned her.

Ada walked off the track with her head bowed, her pride in ruins. She had been beaten not by a faster runner but by her own arrogance and laziness. From that day she understood, as we all did, that talent without humility and hard work is a poor guardian of success. Truly, pride goes before a fall.