El-ahrairah was going to kill him.
“Well, you won’t do it anymore,” said El-ahrairah at length. “You’ll come with us tomorrow and we’ll find somewhere else for you to live out your days like a decent rabbit.”
Greenweed set out with them next day, and they left him in the first warren they came to. El-ahrairah said nothing to its Chief Rabbit about Greenweed’s despicable treachery, saying only that he was too old to journey with them. They never heard any more of him.
9
The Story of the Great Marsh
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
PSALM 40:2
It was not long after dawn on a fine, clear morning close to midsummer. El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle were making their way over a low saddle between two hills of the grassy country they were crossing on their journey home. Clumps of oxeye daisies were already in bloom here and there, and there were patches of mauve sainfoin. As they stopped to nibble the fresh grass, a light breeze began to blow, bringing from below scents of sheep and river plants.
Ahead of them lay the kind of country with which they were familiar. On the sunset side, however, the fields were bordered by marshland, extending north as far as they could see. A man was at work cutting reeds, but otherwise the whole valley was still and quiet.
The rabbits, descending unhurriedly, came to a field that lay near the marsh and ended on the opposite side in a long bank topped by a hedge of hawthorn and elder. In thiswere a number of rabbit holes, and as they reached it two rabbits came out and halted, watching their approach. El-ahrairah greeted them and remarked on the fine weather.
“Hlessil, are you?” said one of the rabbits. The other stared at El-ahrairah’s mutilated ears but said nothing.
“Yes, I suppose we are,” replied El-ahrairah. “We’ve been wandering for quite some time, but now we could do with a few days’ rest. Do you think we might be allowed to stay here? I like the look of this warren, and if it’s not overcrowded, perhaps no one would mind if it’s not overcrowded, perhaps no one would mind if we stopped for a bit.”
“That’ll be for our Chief to say, of course,” replied the second rabbit. “Would you like to come and meet him? I shouldn’t think he’ll mind you staying. He’s very easygoing as a rule.”
The rabbits made their way along the bank, stopping beside a group of four or five holes at the further end.
“This is where our Chief’s usually to be found,” said the first rabbit. “I’ll go in and tell him you’re here. His name’s Burdock, by the way,” he added before disappearing down the nearest of the holes.
Burdock, when he came out to meet them, immediately struck El-ahrairah favorably. His manner was not at all unfriendly, and he seemed to think it only natural that a couple of hlessil should want to stay in his warren for a while.
“We have hardly any trouble with elil here,” he said, “and so far we’ve been left alone by men. I suppose you’vecome from quite a long way off, havent you? No other warrens anywhere near here, as far as I know. You can certainly stay here as long as you like.
El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle settled in comfortably and found the warren so much to their liking that they felt in no particular hurry to move on. The rabbits were as friendly and sociable as anyone could wish. Burdock in particular showed himself glad of the visitors company and of the opportunity to learn more from them about the world they had come from. He and several of his Owsla often came to silflay beside them of an evening, and would ask them to tell of their adventures out in the Beyond.
In his replies, El-ahrairah was always careful to say nothing about the Black Rabbit, and as their hosts were too polite to ask about his mutilated ears, he was able to avoid the whole subject of their reason for wandering and of whether they had any particular
“Well, you won’t do it anymore,” said El-ahrairah at length. “You’ll come with us tomorrow and we’ll find somewhere else for you to live out your days like a decent rabbit.”
Greenweed set out with them next day, and they left him in the first warren they came to. El-ahrairah said nothing to its Chief Rabbit about Greenweed’s despicable treachery, saying only that he was too old to journey with them. They never heard any more of him.
9
The Story of the Great Marsh
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
PSALM 40:2
It was not long after dawn on a fine, clear morning close to midsummer. El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle were making their way over a low saddle between two hills of the grassy country they were crossing on their journey home. Clumps of oxeye daisies were already in bloom here and there, and there were patches of mauve sainfoin. As they stopped to nibble the fresh grass, a light breeze began to blow, bringing from below scents of sheep and river plants.
Ahead of them lay the kind of country with which they were familiar. On the sunset side, however, the fields were bordered by marshland, extending north as far as they could see. A man was at work cutting reeds, but otherwise the whole valley was still and quiet.
The rabbits, descending unhurriedly, came to a field that lay near the marsh and ended on the opposite side in a long bank topped by a hedge of hawthorn and elder. In thiswere a number of rabbit holes, and as they reached it two rabbits came out and halted, watching their approach. El-ahrairah greeted them and remarked on the fine weather.
“Hlessil, are you?” said one of the rabbits. The other stared at El-ahrairah’s mutilated ears but said nothing.
“Yes, I suppose we are,” replied El-ahrairah. “We’ve been wandering for quite some time, but now we could do with a few days’ rest. Do you think we might be allowed to stay here? I like the look of this warren, and if it’s not overcrowded, perhaps no one would mind if it’s not overcrowded, perhaps no one would mind if we stopped for a bit.”
“That’ll be for our Chief to say, of course,” replied the second rabbit. “Would you like to come and meet him? I shouldn’t think he’ll mind you staying. He’s very easygoing as a rule.”
The rabbits made their way along the bank, stopping beside a group of four or five holes at the further end.
“This is where our Chief’s usually to be found,” said the first rabbit. “I’ll go in and tell him you’re here. His name’s Burdock, by the way,” he added before disappearing down the nearest of the holes.
Burdock, when he came out to meet them, immediately struck El-ahrairah favorably. His manner was not at all unfriendly, and he seemed to think it only natural that a couple of hlessil should want to stay in his warren for a while.
“We have hardly any trouble with elil here,” he said, “and so far we’ve been left alone by men. I suppose you’vecome from quite a long way off, havent you? No other warrens anywhere near here, as far as I know. You can certainly stay here as long as you like.
El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle settled in comfortably and found the warren so much to their liking that they felt in no particular hurry to move on. The rabbits were as friendly and sociable as anyone could wish. Burdock in particular showed himself glad of the visitors company and of the opportunity to learn more from them about the world they had come from. He and several of his Owsla often came to silflay beside them of an evening, and would ask them to tell of their adventures out in the Beyond.
In his replies, El-ahrairah was always careful to say nothing about the Black Rabbit, and as their hosts were too polite to ask about his mutilated ears, he was able to avoid the whole subject of their reason for wandering and of whether they had any particular
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