Answer :
A mortal is what the story is trying to teach and the theme is what the story is about
A moral is a lesson that cannot be fully understood until the end. The moral of the tortoise and the hare isn't clear until the tortoise wins, right? I mean, if you didn't know the end and were asked to guess the moral, you might say it's don't bite off more than you can chew, assuming the hare wins.
Theme is identifiable throughout and forms the basis for an overwhelming number of tedious english class questions, but once you can spot it you're golden and set for a nickel-and-dime analysis basis for life.
