The Hare's Bride
There was once a woman and her daughter who lived in a pretty garden
with cabbages. And a little hare came into it, and during the winter time ate all the
cabbages. Then says the mother to the daughter, go into the garden, and chase the hare
away.
The girl says to the little hare, sh-sh, hare, you will be eating
all our cabbages. Says the hare, come, maiden, and seat yourself on my little hare's tail,
and come with me into my little hare's hut. The girl will not do it.
Next day the hare comes again and eats the cabbages, then says the
mother to the daughter, go into the garden, and drive the hare away. The girl says to the
hare, sh-sh, little hare, you will be eating all the cabbages. The little hare says,
maiden, seat yourself on my little hare's tail, and come with me into my little hare's
hut. The maiden refuses.
The third day the hare comes again, and eats the cabbages. On this
the mother says to the daughter, go into the garden, and hunt the hare away. Says the
maiden, sh-sh, little hare, you will be eating all our cabbages. Says the little hare,
come, maiden, seat yourself on my little hare's tail, and come with me into my little
hare's hut.
The girl seats herself on the little hare's tail, and then the hare
takes her far away to his little hut, and says, now cook green cabbage and millet-seed,
and I will invite the wedding-guests. Then all the wedding-guests assembled. Who were the
wedding-guests? That I can tell you as another told it to me. They were all hares, and the
crow was there as parson to marry the bride and bridegroom, and the fox as clerk, and the
altar was under the rainbow.
The girl, however, was sad, for she was all alone. The little hare
comes and says, open the doors, open the doors, the wedding-guests are merry. The bride
says nothing, but weeps. The little hare goes away. The little hare comes back and says,
take off the lid, take off the lid, the wedding-guests are hungry. The bride again says
nothing, and weeps. The little hare goes away. The little hare comes back and says, take
off the lid, take off the lid, the wedding-guests are waiting. Then the bride says
nothing, and the hare goes away, but she dresses a straw-doll in her clothes, and gives
her a spoon to stir with, and sets her by the pan with the millet-seed, and goes back to
her mother. The little hare comes once more and says, take off the lid, take off the lid,
and gets up, and strikes the doll on the head so that her cap falls off. Then the little
hare sees that it is not his bride, and goes away and is sorrowful.
--The
End-- |
