The Little Hare
:
The Pink Fairy Book
Contes populaires des Bassoutos. Recueillis et traduits par E. Jacottet.
Paris: Leroux, Editeur.
A long, long way off, in a land where water is very scarce, there lived
a man and his wife and several children. One day the wife said to her
husband, 'I am pining to have the liver of a nyamatsane for my dinner.
If you love me as much as you say you do, you will go out and hunt for
a nyamatsane,
and will kill it and get its liver. If not, I shall know
that your love is not worth having.'
'Bake some bread,' was all her husband answered, 'then take the crust
and put it in this little bag.'
The wife did as she was told, and when she had finished she said to her
husband, 'The bag is all ready and quite full.'
'Very well,' said he, 'and now good-bye; I am going after the
nyamatsane.'
But the nyamatsane was not so easy to find as the woman had hoped. The
husband walked on and on and on without ever seeing one, and every now
and then he felt so hungry that he was obliged to eat one of the
crusts of bread out of his bag. At last, when he was ready to drop from
fatigue, he found himself on the edge of a great marsh, which bordered
on one side the country of the nyamatsanes. But there were no more
nyamatsanes here than anywhere else. They had all gone on a hunting
expedition, as their larder was empty, and the only person left at
home was their grandmother, who was so feeble she never went out of
the house. Our friend looked on this as a great piece of luck, and made
haste to kill her before the others returned, and to take out her liver,
after which he dressed himself in her skin as well as he could. He had
scarcely done this when he heard the noise of the nyamatsanes coming
back to their grandmother, for they were very fond of her, and never
stayed away from her longer than they could help. They rushed clattering
into the hut, exclaiming, 'We smell human flesh! Some man is here,' and
began to look about for him; but they only saw their old grandmother,
who answered, in a trembling voice, 'No, my children, no! What should
any man be doing here?' The nyamatsanes paid no attention to her, and
began to open all the cupboards, and peep under all the beds, crying
out all the while, 'A man is here! a man is here!' but they could find
nobody, and at length, tired out with their long day's hunting, they
curled themselves up and fell asleep.
Next morning they woke up quite refreshed, and made ready to start
on another expedition; but as they did not feel happy about their
grandmother they said to her, 'Grandmother, won't you come to-day and
feed with us?' And they led their grandmother outside, and all of them
began hungrily to eat pebbles. Our friend pretended to do the same,
but in reality he slipped the stones into his pouch, and swallowed the
crusts of bread instead. However, as the nyamatsanes did not see this
they had no idea that he was not really their grandmother. When they had
eaten a great many pebbles they thought they had done enough for that
day, and all went home together and curled themselves up to sleep. Next
morning when they woke they said, 'Let us go and amuse ourselves by
jumping over the ditch,' and every time they cleared it with a bound.
Then they begged their grandmother to jump over it too, end with a
tremendous effort she managed to spring right over to the other side.
After this they had no doubt at all of its being their true grandmother,
and went off to their hunting, leaving our friend at home in the hut.
As soon as they had gone out of sight our hero made haste to take the
liver from the place where he had hid it, threw off the skin of the old
nyamatsane, and ran away as hard as he could, only stopping to pick up a
very brilliant and polished little stone, which he put in his bag by the
side of the liver.
Towards evening the nyamatsanes came back to the hut full of anxiety to
know how their grandmother had got on during their absence. The first
thing they saw on entering the door was her skin lying on the floor, and
then they knew that they had been deceived, and they said to each other,
'So we were right, after all, and it was human flesh we smelt.' Then
they stooped down to find traces of the man's footsteps, and when they
had got them instantly set out in hot pursuit.
Meanwhile our friend had journeyed many miles, and was beginning to feel
quite safe and comfortable, when, happening to look round, he saw in
the distance a thick cloud of dust moving rapidly. His heart stood still
within him, and he said to himself, 'I am lost. It is the nyamatsanes,
and they will tear me in pieces,' and indeed the cloud of dust was
drawing near with amazing quickness, and the nyamatsanes almost felt as
if they were already devouring him. Then as a last hope the man took the
little stone that he had picked up out of his bag and flung it on the
ground. The moment it touched the soil it became a huge rock, whose
steep sides were smooth as glass, and on the top of it our hero hastily
seated himself. It was in vain that the nyamatsanes tried to climb up
and reach him; they slid down again much faster than they had gone up;
and by sunset they were quite worn out, and fell asleep at the foot of
the rock.
No sooner had the nyamatsanes tumbled off to sleep than the man stole
softly down and fled away as fast as his legs would carry him, and by
the time his enemies were awake he was a very long way off. They sprang
quickly to their feet and began to sniff the soil round the rock, in
order to discover traces of his footsteps, and they galloped after him
with terrific speed. The chase continued for several days and nights;
several times the nyamatsanes almost reached him, and each time he was
saved by his little pebble.
Between his fright and his hurry he was almost dead of exhaustion when
he reached his own village, where the nyamatsanes could not follow him,
because of their enemies the dogs, which swarmed over all the roads. So
they returned home.
Then our friend staggered into his own hut and called to his wife:
'Ichou! how tired I am! Quick, give me something to drink. Then go and
get fuel and light a fire.'
So she did what she was bid, and then her husband took the nyamatsane's
liver from his pouch and said to her, 'There, I have brought you what
you wanted, and now you know that I love you truly.'
And the wife answered, 'It is well. Now go and take out the children, so
that I may remain alone in the hut,' and as she spoke she lifted down an
old stone pot and put on the liver to cook. Her husband watched her for
a moment, and then said, 'Be sure you eat it all yourself. Do not give
a scrap to any of the children, but eat every morsel up.' So the woman
took the liver and ate it all herself.
Directly the last mouthful had disappeared she was seized with such
violent thirst that she caught up a great pot full of water and drank it
at a single draught. Then, having no more in the house, she ran in next
door and said, 'Neighbour, give me, I pray you, something to drink.' The
neighbour gave her a large vessel quite full, and the woman drank it off
at a single draught, and held it out for more.
But the neighbour pushed her away, saying, 'No, I shall have none left
for my children.'
So the woman went into another house, and drank all the water she could
find; but the more she drank the more thirsty she became. She wandered
in this manner through the whole village till she had drunk every
water-pot dry. Then she rushed off to the nearest spring, and swallowed
that, and when she had finished all the springs and wells about she
drank up first the river and then a lake. But by this time she had drunk
so much that she could not rise from the ground.
In the evening, when it was time for the animals to have their drink
before going to bed, they found the lake quite dry, and they had to make
up their minds to be thirsty till the water flowed again and the streams
were full. Even then, for some time, the lake was very dirty, and the
lion, as king of the beasts, commanded that no one should drink till it
was quite clear again.
But the little hare, who was fond of having his own way, and was very
thirsty besides, stole quietly off when all the rest were asleep in
their dens, and crept down to the margin of the lake and drank his fill.
Then he smeared the dirty water all over the rabbit's face and paws, so
that it might look as if it were he who had been disobeying Big Lion's
orders.
The next day, as soon as it was light, Big Lion marched straight for
the lake, and all the other beasts followed him. He saw at once that the
water had been troubled again, and was very angry.
'Who has been drinking my water?' said he; and the little hare gave a
jump, and, pointing to the rabbit, he answered, 'Look there! it must be
he! Why, there is mud all over his face and paws!'
The rabbit, frightened out of his wits, tried to deny the fact,
exclaiming, 'Oh, no, indeed I never did;' but Big Lion would not listen,
and commanded them to cane him with a birch rod.
Now the little hare was very much pleased with his cleverness in causing
the rabbit to be beaten instead of himself, and went about boasting
of it. At last one of the other animals overheard him, and called out,
'Little hare, little hare! what is that you are saying?'
But the little hare hastily replied, 'I only asked you to pass me my
stick.'
An hour or two later, thinking that no one was near him, he said to
himself again, 'It was really I who drank up the water, but I made them
think it was the rabbit.'
But one of the beasts whose ears were longer than the rest caught the
words, and went to tell Big Lion about it. Do you hear what the little
hare is saying?'
So Big Lion sent for the little hare, and asked him what he meant by
talking like that.
The little hare saw that there was no use trying to hide it, so he
answered pertly, 'It was I who drank the water, but I made them think
it was the rabbit.' Then he turned and ran as fast as he could, with all
the other beasts pursuing him.
They were almost up to him when he dashed into a very narrow cleft in
the rock, much too small for them to follow; but in his hurry he had
left one of his long ears sticking out, which they just managed to
seize. But pull as hard as they might they could not drag him out of the
hole, and at last they gave it up and left him, with his ear very much
torn and scratched.
When the last tail was out of sight the little hare crept cautiously
out, and the first person he met was the rabbit. He had plenty of
impudence, so he put a bold face on the matter, and said, 'Well, my good
rabbit, you see I have had a beating as well as you.'
But the rabbit was still sore and sulky, and he did not care to talk, so
he answered, coldly, 'You have treated me very badly. It was really you
who drank that water, and you accused me of having done it.'
'Oh, my good rabbit, never mind that! I've got such a wonderful secret
to tell you! Do you know what to do so as to escape death?'
'No, I don't.'
'Well, we must begin by digging a hole.'
So they dug a hole, and then the little hare said, 'The next thing is to
make a fire in the hole,' and they set to work to collect wood, and lit
quite a large fire.
When it was burning brightly the little hare said to the rabbit,
'Rabbit, my friend, throw me into the fire, and when you hear my fur
crackling, and I call "Itchi, Itchi," then be quick and pull me out.'
The rabbit did as he was told, and threw the little hare into the fire;
but no sooner did the little hare begin to feel the heat of the flames
than he took some green bay leaves he had plucked for the purpose and
held them in the middle of the fire, where they crackled and made a
great noise. Then he called loudly 'Itchi, Itchi! Rabbit, my friend, be
quick, be quick! Don't you hear how my skin is crackling?'
And the rabbit came in a great hurry and pulled him out.
Then the little hare said, 'Now it is your turn!' and he threw the
rabbit in the fire. The moment the rabbit felt the flames he cried out
'Itchi, Itchi, I am burning; pull me out quick, my friend!'
But the little hare only laughed, and said, 'No, you may stay there! It
is your own fault. Why were you such a fool as to let yourself be thrown
in? Didn't you know that fire burns?' And in a very few minutes nothing
was left of the rabbit but a few bones.
When the fire was quite out the little hare went and picked up one of
these bones, and made a flute out of it, and sang this song:
Pii, pii, O flute that I love, Pii, pii, rabbits are but little boys.
Pii, pii, he would have burned me if he could; Pii, pii, but I burned
him, and he crackled finely.
When he got tired of going through the world singing this the little
hare went back to his friends and entered the service of Big Lion. One
day he said to his master, 'Grandfather, shall I show you a splendid way
to kill game?'
'What is it?' asked Big Lion.
'We must dig a ditch, and then you must lie in it and pretend to be
dead.'
Big Lion did as he was told, and when he had lain down the little hare
got up on a wall blew a trumpet and shouted--
Pii, pii, all you animals come and see, Big Lion is dead, and now peace
will be.
Directly they heard this they all came running. The little hare received
them and said, 'Pass on, this way to the lion.' So they all entered into
the Animal Kingdom. Last of all came the monkey with her baby on her
back. She approached the ditch, and took a blade of grass and tickled
Big Lion's nose, and his nostrils moved in spite of his efforts to keep
them still. Then the monkey cried, 'Come, my baby, climb on my back and
let us go. What sort of a dead body is it that can still feel when it
is tickled?' And she and her baby went away in a fright. Then the
little hare said to the other beasts, 'Now, shut the gate of the Animal
Kingdom.' And it was shut, and great stones were rolled against it. When
everything was tight closed the little hare turned to Big Lion and said
'Now!' and Big Lion bounded out of the ditch and tore the other animals
in pieces.
But Big Lion kept all the choice bits for himself, and only gave away
the little scraps that he did not care about eating; and the little hare
grew very angry, and determined to have his revenge. He had long ago
found out that Big Lion was very easily taken in; so he laid his plans
accordingly. He said to him, as if the idea had just come into his head,
'Grandfather, let us build a hut,' and Big Lion consented. And when they
had driven the stakes into the ground, and had made the walls of the
hut, the little hare told Big Lion to climb upon the top while he stayed
inside. When he was ready he called out, 'Now, grandfather, begin,'
and Big Lion passed his rod through the reeds with which the roofs are
always covered in that country. The little hare took it and cried, 'Now
it is my turn to pierce them,' and as he spoke he passed the rod back
through the reeds and gave Big Lion's tail a sharp poke.
'What is pricking me so?' asked Big Lion.
'Oh, just a little branch sticking out. I am going to break it,'
answered the little hare; but of course he had done it on purpose, as he
wanted to fix Big Lion's tail so firmly to the hut that he would not
be able to move. In a little while he gave another prick, and Big Lion
called again, 'What is pricking me so?'
This time the little hare said to himself, 'He will find out what I am
at. I must try some other plan. 'So he called out, 'Grandfather, you had
better put your tongue here, so that the branches shall not touch you.'
Big Lion did as he was bid, and the little hare tied it tightly to the
stakes of the wall. Then he went outside and shouted, 'Grandfather, you
can come down now,' and Big Lion tried, but he could not move an inch.
Then the little hare began quietly to eat Big Lion's dinner right before
his eyes, and paying no attention at all to his growls of rage. When
he had quite done he climbed up on the hut, and, blowing his flute, he
chanted 'Pii, pii, fall rain and hail,' and directly the sky was full of
clouds, the thunder roared, and huge hailstones whitened the roof of
the hut. The little hare, who had taken refuge within, called out again,
'Big Lion, be quick and come down and dine with me.' But there was no
answer, not even a growl, for the hailstones had killed Big Lion.
The little hare enjoyed himself vastly for some time, living comfortably
in the hut, with plenty of food to eat and no trouble at all in getting
it. But one day a great wind arose, and flung down the Big Lion's
half-dried skin from the roof of the hut. The little hare bounded with
terror at the noise, for he thought Big Lion must have come to life
again; but on discovering what had happened he set about cleaning
the skin, and propped the mouth open with sticks so that he could get
through. So, dressed in Big Lion's skin, the little hare started on his
travels.
The first visit he paid was to the hyaenas, who trembled at the sight
of him, and whispered to each other, 'How shall we escape from this
terrible beast?' Meanwhile the little hare did not trouble himself
about them, but just asked where the king of the hyaenas lived, and
made himself quite at home there. Every morning each hyaena thought to
himself, 'To-day he is certain to eat me;' but several days went by,
and they were all still alive. At length, one evening, the little hare,
looking round for something to amuse him, noticed a great pot full of
boiling water, so he strolled up to one of the hyaenas and said, 'Go and
get in.' The hyaena dared not disobey, and in a few minutes was scalded
to death. Then the little hare went the round of the village, saying to
every hyaena he met, 'Go and get into the boiling water,' so that in a
little while there was hardly a male left in the village.
One day all the hyaenas that remained alive went out very early into
the fields, leaving only one little daughter at home. The little hare,
thinking he was all alone, came into the enclosure, and, wishing to
feel what it was like to be a hare again, threw off Big Lion's skin, and
began to jump and dance, singing--
I am just the little hare, the little hare, the little hare; I am just
the little hare who killed the great hyaenas.
The little hyaena gazed at him in surprise, saying to herself, 'What!
was it really this tiny beast who put to death all our best people?'
when suddenly a gust of wind rustled the reeds that surrounded the
enclosure, and the little hare, in a fright, hastily sprang back into
Big Lion's skin.
When the hyaenas returned to their homes the little hyaena said to her
father: 'Father, our tribe has very nearly been swept away, and all this
has been the work of a tiny creature dressed in the lion's skin.'
But her father answered, 'Oh, my dear child, you don't know what you are
talking about.'
She replied, 'Yes, father, it is quite true. I saw it with my own eyes.'
The father did not know what to think, and told one of his friends, who
said, 'To-morrow we had better keep watch ourselves.'
And the next day they hid themselves and waited till the little hare
came out of the royal hut. He walked gaily towards the enclosure, threw
off, Big Lion's skin, and sang and danced as before--
I am just the little hare, the little hare, the little hare, I am just
the little hare, who killed the great hyaenas.
That night the two hyaenas told all the rest, saying, 'Do you know that
we have allowed ourselves to be trampled on by a wretched creature with
nothing of the lion about him but his skin?'
When supper was being cooked that evening, before they all went to bed,
the little hare, looking fierce and terrible in Big Lion's skin, said as
usual to one of the hyaenas 'Go and get into the boiling water.' But the
hyaena never stirred. There was silence for a moment; then a hyaena took
a stone, and flung it with all his force against the lion's skin. The
little hare jumped out through the mouth with a single spring, and fled
away like lightning, all the hyaenas in full pursuit uttering great
cries. As he turned a corner the little hare cut off both his ears,
so that they should not know him, and pretended to be working at a
grindstone which lay there.
The hyaenas soon came up to him and said, 'Tell me, friend, have you
seen the little hare go by?'
'No, I have seen no one.'
'Where can he be?' said the hyaenas one to another. 'Of course, this
creature is quite different, and not at all like the little hare.' Then
they went on their way, but, finding no traces of the little hare,
they returned sadly to their village, saying, 'To think we should have
allowed ourselves to be swept away by a wretched creature like that!'