The
Rabbit in Literature and Lore
Alice was beginning to get very
tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having
nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her
sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in
it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without
pictures or conversation?'
So she was considering in her
own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel
very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a
daisy- chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink
eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so very
remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much
out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh
dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards,
it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this,
but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the
Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat- pocket,
and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her
feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before
seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to
take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the
field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop
down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
In another moment down went
Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she
was to get out again. ---Alice in Wonderland, Lewis
Carroll
[All
of Alice is available online here]
Aniruddha and the Golden
Rabbit (Bhuddist)
Once there was a poor farmer
who offered his only bowl of rice to a holy man who was even
poorer than he. This meant he would have nothing to eat that
day. He went back to his work and forgot all about having
given his rice away. Suddenly a rabbit hopped alongside the
farmer and jumped on his back. The surprised farmer tried to
brush it off. He tried to shake it off, he tried to knock it
off, but the rabbit would not bulge.
He ran home to his wife,
crying, "Get this rabbit off my back!" By this time
the rabbit had turned into solid gold! The wife flipped the
rabbit into the air. It hit the floor with a "Crackkk!"
One of its golden legs broke off and another one magically
grew in its place.
From that day on, whenever the
farmer and his wife needed money, they would break off a piece
of the golden rabbit. And from that life onward, Aniruddha was
never poor. This was his reward for giving. (Basic
Teachings of Bhudda)
Mayan Folk tales
featuring Uncle Rabbit include: The
Rabbit and the Coyote and The
Rabbit Throws out His Sandal.
Native American Rabbit
Stories
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