Modernizing a Parable
Thurber punctures in an incisive way the platitudes that come from the stories
handed down through generations. These old saws are accepted by everyone. One
such tale is about tortoise that had read in an ancient book that a tortoise
had beaten a hare in a race. The sage old tortoise construed this story to 
mean that he could outrun a hare. With equanimity the tortoise hunted for a 
hare and soon found one. "Do you have effrontery to challenge me?" asked the
incredulous hare. "You are nonentity." he scoffed at the tortoise. A course of
fifty feet was set out. All other animals gathered around the site. At the
sound of the gun they were off. When the hare crossed the finish line, the 
flabbergasted tortoise had gone approximately eight and three quarter inches.
The moral Thurber draws from this debacle of the tortoise:
A new broom may sweep clean, but never trust an old saw.

to raise Cain--to cause trouble, make a fuss.
When he found he was left holding the bag, he decided to raise Cain.