ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE. 



came off, that though he got upon terms with 

 his antagonist as easily as he had expected, he 

 could never quite get level an experience 

 with which he was so dumbfounded that in help- 

 less surprise at his own incompetence he came 

 to a full stop, and in stupefied astonishment 

 stood so long stock-still that the tortoise had 

 time to crawl slowly in a winner. 



The difficulty which beat him is illustrated 

 in Fig. 59. A is scratch, where Achilles starts. 

 T is mid-distance, the starting point of the 



Yda.o _ 50 s _ IOQ 



A T |\ G 



r> E 



FIG. 59.-A HANDICAP RACE IN THE PURSUIT OF SCIENCE. 



tortoise. G is the goal, at the end of one 

 hundred yards. Achilles travels ten times as 

 fast as the tortoise ; but the latter, slow as he 

 is, does go five yards while Achilles covers the 

 fifty which separated them at the crack of 

 the pistol. Their positions, then, at the end 

 of the first stage are at T and D, the tortoise 

 being still five yards to the good. While 

 Achilles covers these five yards, the tortoise is 

 able to go half a yard further, and their posi- 

 tions at the end of this second stage are at D 

 and E. While Achilles covers the half-yard 

 which now separates them, the tortoise gets 

 another distance in advance, and so, at the 

 end of the third stage, is still leading by the 



267 



