The Clever Rabbit and the Forest Animals: Five Folk Tales

'We must needs put a stop to yon Hare!' quoth the Lion, yet not a one amongst the beasts knew how.

'I possess the means!' declared the Tortoise. 'Do but coat me in tar, that I might resemble a stone nigh unto the waterhole's brink. The Hare shall tread upon me and find himself ensnared.'

'How considerate of them!' mused the Hare upon espying the stone.

'They have furnished me with a stepping-stone, lest I should wet my feet.'

The Hare did step.

His foot became fast.

'Release me!' he bellowed. 'Or I shall give thee a kick!'

Both feet were now fast.

'Release me, I say! Or I shall butt thee with my head!'

The Hare's head became fast.

Then did the Hare hear the Tortoise's mirth.

The beasts had apprehended him!

The Rabbit's head and extremities were, by some mischance, affixed to the Tortoise's dorsal carapace.

The Tortoise, thereupon, rose to his feet and ambled with a deliberate gait toward the assemblage of beasts.

King Lion, with a regal air, detached the Rabbit from the Tortoise's back and, raising him aloft, proclaimed with a stentorian voice, 'By what means shall we inflict punishment upon this miscreant?'

'Let him be consumed by fire!' vociferated the Jackal.

'The application of flames is a prospect I find agreeable,' rejoined the Rabbit, 'but I beseech thee, refrain from the act of whirling me by my caudal appendage against a stone edifice.'

'Condemn him to a watery grave!' bellowed the Elephant.

'I implore thee, immerse me in the depths,' entreated the Rabbit, 'but I beg deliverance from the whirling ordeal.'

Lion, with a mighty roar, seized the Rabbit and subjected his tail to the aforementioned whirling motion against a stone.

In consequence, the Rabbit's tail became detached, and he fled with alacrity, his mirth echoing in his wake.

Thus it came to pass that the Rabbit was deprived of his caudal appendage.

The Lion, weary of the Rabbit's chicanery, proclaimed with a resounding roar, 'I shall put an end to thee!'

The Rabbit, spurred by this pronouncement, fled with all possible celerity. However, fatigue soon taking its toll, he sought refuge beneath a rocky protuberance, whither the Lion pursued.

'Post-haste, Lion!' the Rabbit vociferated, raising his forelimbs. 'Support the stone, lest it succumb to gravity and crush us betwixt its weight!'

The Lion, without hesitation, elevated his paws to sustain the aforementioned stone.

'Do not relinquish thy hold!' the Rabbit cautioned, before absconding from the locus.

The Lion, thus engaged, remained in situ, maintaining his posture until overcome by the pangs of hunger and the affliction of thirst.

At length, he released his grasp.

The stone, defying expectation, remained immutable.

The Rabbit, by his cunning, had once more deceived him!

The Hare's good lady had prepared a dish of porridge.

Presently, the Hare espied the Tortoise approaching; being disinclined to share his repast, he extended an invitation to the Tortoise, seating him upon an elevated chair.

The Tortoise, owing to the brevity of his forelimbs, found himself unable to reach the sustenance, and thus partook of no porridge.

Subsequently, the Tortoise's consort having likewise prepared porridge, an invitation was extended to the Hare, albeit the Tortoise discreetly scattered ashes throughout his abode. Upon the Hare's arrival, he became besmirched with the aforementioned ashes.

'Thou art sullied,' quoth the Tortoise. 'Pray, betake thyself to ablutions!'

The Hare proceeded to the river and performed his ablutions, only to traverse once more the ashen terrain upon his return.

'Thou art yet sullied; return and cleanse thyself!' declared the Tortoise, repeatedly.

The Hare, consequently, remained devoid of porridge.

The Hare, with an air of impertinence, remarked unto the Terrestrial Globe, “Thou art possessed of a lamentable indolence! Thou dost never stir from thy place.”

The Terrestrial Globe, with a measured mirth, responded, “Thou art, I perceive, labouring under a misapprehension, Master Hare! I am in a perpetual state of motion, and, moreover, do traverse space with a celerity far exceeding thine own.”

“Thy assertion is erroneous!” retorted the Hare, with considerable vehemence. “And I shall presently demonstrate the fallacy thereof. Let us engage in a contest of speed!”

Thereupon, the Hare commenced to run, exerting himself to the utmost extent of his corporeal capabilities. He ran with prodigious haste, and then, deeming himself the victor, he came to a halt.

But, to the Hare's profound astonishment, the Terrestrial Globe remained, steadfast and immutable, beneath his feet. It had, by some inexplicable means, preceded him in his arrival.

“I shall yet confound thee!” exclaimed the Hare, his voice tinged with desperation. And he resumed his course, running with renewed vigour and an unwavering determination.

The Hare continued his tireless pursuit until, alas, the inevitable consequence of such unsustainable exertion befell him, and he succumbed to the cold embrace of mortality.