The Adventures of Rabbit, Hyena, and the Forest Animals: Five Fables

'I am cognisant that the Leopard is of a perilous nature,' quoth the Bushbuck, 'yet hitherto, I have been spared the occasion of observing him.'

'I shall rectify this deficiency,'

He did conduct the Bushbuck to a arboreal specimen situated proximate to the fluvial domain. 'Remain expectant in the arboreal heights,'

Then did the Rabbit seek audience with the Leopard. 'The Bushbuck doth indulge in ablutions within the riverine expanse,'

'Behold him!'

The Leopard did precipitate himself into the watery abyss.

Alas, no Bushbuck was to be found.

The Rabbit did gesticulate. 'He doth reside precisely yonder!'

Again, the Leopard plunged into the aqueous medium.

Naught.

'Thou hast squandered my temporal resources, Rabbit!'

The Bushbuck descended and conveyed his gratitude to the Rabbit; he had beheld the Leopard and subsisted!

The Hare, espying clouds mirrored in a mere, did thus remark.

“What beauteous isles are these revealed!” quoth he. “Upon these isles, I shall secrete myself from mine adversaries. They shall ne'er discover my whereabouts.”

Thereafter, the Hare, emboldened, did offer sundry insults toward the Elephant. “Observe that prodigious cephalous!” he vociferated. “Yet devoid of cerebration!”

The Elephant, incensed, did pursue the Hare with great alacrity. Yet, when the Hare did leap into the pool, there were no isles apparent wherein he might find concealment.

The Elephant, seizing the Hare by his proboscis, did shake him with considerable vigour.

“I have endured sufficient of thy chicanery!” he bellowed, compressing the Hare deep within the mire at the pool's embankment. “I trust it doth engender thy suffocation!”

The Hare, rendered mute by the circumstance, was incapable of articulation, for his oral cavity was replete with mud.

The Hyaena chanced upon the Rabbit, much besmirched and flattened in the mire. Deeming him deceased, she did exclaim with avarice, “How delectable a repast he shall furnish!”

As she lifted the Rabbit from his muddy plight, she observed his considerable uncleanliness and resolved to cleanse him within the pool.

Throughout this ablution, the Rabbit, with sagacity, held his breath, lest the Hyaena apprehend his continued vitality. For had she been privy to his animation, she would, of necessity, have been compelled to dispatch him in earnest.

Subsequent to the Rabbit's ablution, the Hyaena, seeking repose, left him to desiccate in the sun's benevolent rays. Upon hearing her stentorian snores, the Rabbit did spring forth and abscond, exclaiming to the Hyaena, “Acknowledgment and gratitude for the most agreeable bath!”

A husbandman, having apprehended a Rabbit in the act of purloining groundnuts from his tillage, did secure the creature to a tree, purposing to administer a sound thrashing with his whip.

It chanced that a Hyena ambled by and, espying the Rabbit in its predicament, enquired, “Pray, Rabbit, what untoward event hath befallen thee?”

“Alas,” quoth the Rabbit, “the farmer hath slain a goat and commanded me to consume the entirety thereof.”

“I did demur to such an unreasonable imposition, wherefore he hath bound me thusly. He is presently gone to fetch the carcass and compel me to partake thereof against my will.”

Now, the Hyena, being possessed of a ravenous appetite, exclaimed, “I should be most happy to relieve thee of this burden and consume the goat in thy stead!”

“Art thou indeed so inclined?” queried the Rabbit with affected incredulity.

The Hyena did affirm with a vigorous nod.

“Then,” said the Rabbit, “prythee, release me from these bonds, and I shall secure thee in my place.”

The Rabbit, having thus ensnared the Hyena, absconded with all possible haste. When the farmer returned, he, perceiving the Hyena in the Rabbit's stead, did administer a severe whipping, justly punishing the interloper for permitting the Rabbit's escape.

A shepherd, intending to convey his ram to the market, set forth upon the road.

Whereupon, quoth the Scorpion, 'I shall accompany thee,' to which proposition the shepherd acquiesced.

As they progressed, they encountered a Hyena.

The Hyena, in like manner, declared, 'I shall proceed with thee,' and the shepherd, assenting thereto, they continued as a company.

They did, upon the approach of night, establish a camp by the wayside.

The Scorpion, with cunning, concealed itself within the fleece of the ram.

At or about the witching hour of midnight, the Hyena did softly inquire, 'Is there any soul a-stir? …'

'Any soul at all?'

The Scorpion, though cognisant of the query, maintained a deliberate silence.

Thereafter, the Hyena, emboldened, seized hold of the ram, whereupon the Scorpion did inflict a sting upon the Hyena.

The Hyena, howling in torment, cried out, 'I am resolved to return hence!'

To which the Scorpion, with sardonic mirth, responded, 'Pray, remain! For we are all companions here!'

Nay,' barked the Hyena, 'I am engaged elsewhere upon a pressing matter. Farewell!'

Thus, the Hyena, lamenting grievously, departed with all possible haste.