The Flight of the Golden Bird (2 page)

Once upon a time Mr Rabbit had two little ears and a beautiful big tail. He didn't look like rabbits do today! When he walked through the forest and met his little friends, he would say to them, “Wouldn't you like to have a nice tail like mine?” Oh, Mr Rabbit was so proud!

Well, one winter morning all the little creatures got together. They said, “We can't go on like this. Something must be done about Rabbit's boasting.”

Mrs Hedgehog said, “What shall we do? He's bigger than us.” Then she said, “I've got an idea. Let's go and see our friend Mr Fox. He's very clever.”

So, off they went together to the hillside. And they found Mr Fox asleep in his den with his head on his paws.

They shouted, “Wake up, Mr Fox, we've come to see you! Mr Fox, you're the wisest creature of all. We need your help. It's Rabbit,” said the animals.

Mr Fox said, “Oh, dear! There are many things I'd like to do with Rabbit if I could catch him! What kind of help do you want from me?”

Mrs Hedgehog said, “Rabbit keeps boasting about his tail all day long. We're just fed up listening to him.”

Fox said, “Well, just give me a day or two to think about it.”

So, off they went back to the forest. They knew their friend Mr Fox would help them.

Two days later Mr Fox was walking along the riverside when he found a big fish. A fisherman had dropped it from his bag. And, of course, Fox picked it up in his mouth. At that moment
who should come poppety-poppety-poppety down the hillside? Rabbit with his great big, bushy tail held up in the air! When he saw Mr Fox he stopped.

He said, “Hey, Foxy! Is that a fish you've got there?”

Then Mr Fox had an idea. He placed the fish very carefully between his paws.

He said, “Of course it's a fish, Mr Rabbit! I've caught this for my breakfast.”

Rabbit said, “Oh, Foxy, can you spare a little bit for me? I love fish, too, you know!”

“Indeed not!” said Mr Fox. “Do you think that I'm going to spend all night long out here, sitting in the cold, to catch a fish and share it with you? If you want a fish, catch one for yourself!”

And Rabbit said, “How do you catch a fish, Mr Fox?”

Mr Fox said, “No problem, Mr Rabbit. Tonight, when the moon comes up and it gets very cold, you come down to the river. Find a nice little pool, put in your tail and wait till a little fish comes along and nibbles on it. Pull out your tail and you'll have a fish just like mine!” And Mr Fox, laughing to himself, went off to his den.

Rabbit watched him for a while and said, “Fox thinks he's smart, doesn't he? I'm just as clever as he is! Tonight I'll catch a fish and I'll have it all to myself.”

That night when the moon came up it was very cold. Mr Rabbit had a lovely fur coat to keep him warm. He came down to the riverside, found a little, deep pool, turned around and put his long, busy tail in the water. There he sat and waited. Soon, he would have a fish for himself! The moon rose high in the sky and it got colder and colder.

At that moment who should come walking up the riverside but Jack Frost with his long, spiky nose and his spiky fingers. He was turning all the water into ice, freezing all the pools, making all the icicles! He walked past the pool where Mr Rabbit sat with his tail in the water, and he laughed to himself.
But Rabbit knew nothing of this, for no one sees Jack Frost.

Mr Rabbit sat all night long until the moon went down and the sun came up. He rubbed his eyes.

“Aha, there must be a fish on my tail by this time!” said Mr Rabbit. He tried to pull his tail from the river, but... aargh! Jack Frost had frozen the pool solid!

“Help me, someone, help me!” cried Rabbit as he pulled and tugged.

Then, at that moment, who should come walking up but Mrs Stork, with her long legs and her long beak. When she saw Mr Rabbit she said, “Hey, Mr Rabbit, why are you crying? What's all the noise about?”

“Oh, Mrs Stork, you must help me!” begged Mr Rabbit. “My beautiful tail is caught in the ice and I cannot get free!”

“Oh, dear,” said Mrs Stork. Now, a stork is a very kindly bird. “I will help you,” she said.

And with her big, long beak she caught Rabbit by his tiny little ears and she pulled. But Rabbit's tail was still trapped in the ice. Stork tugged and tugged. Mr Rabbit's ears began to stretch; they got longer and longer. Then, snap! Mr Rabbit's tail broke and left just a tiny little stump. Rabbit was free, but his beautiful tail had gone.

“Oh! I can't go back to the forest again and see all my little friends,” said Rabbit. “They'll laugh at me.”

So, he ran to the hillside and dug-dug-dug himself a burrow. There he hid.

Back in the forest the little creatures said, “I wonder what's happened to Mr Rabbit? He hasn't come back to boast about his tail.”

But Mr Rabbit's beautiful tail had gone for ever. Instead, he had two big, long ears. He felt so ashamed of himself that he stayed in his burrow. And the years passed. Hundreds of years passed by. And still to this day, all the little rabbits you see have two big ears and a little short tail!

If you were to travel the hills of Scotland today you would find that hedgehogs and hares live together. They're great friends. It wasn't always so...

Every morning early, old Mr Brown Hare came down from his bed in the hillside. He was bound for the farmer's field because his breakfast was turnips. He loved the young turnips coming up, the leaves. But this one morning, bright and early as old Mr Hare came popping down the hillside, a beautiful sunny morning, the first
person
he met was old Mr Hedgehog. And he was crawling around the hedgerows hunting for his breakfast. Snails and slugs and worms, which hedgehogs love to eat. Because Mr Hare was feeling very frisky this morning, he rubbed his paws together and said to himself, “O-ho, old Mr Hedgehog! I'm going to have some fun to myself this morning!” He liked to tease old Mr Hedgehog, you know.

So when he came down to the gate leading to the farmer's field, old Mr Hedgehog of course sat up with his wee pointed nose and his little, short legs.

And old Mr Hare said, “Good morning, Short Legs!”

Now hedgehogs are very sensitive about their short legs. And they don't like it very much when somebody talks about them, because their legs really are very short.

He said, “You know, my friend Mr Hare, you are not a very nice person.”

“And why,” said old Mr Hare, “am I not a nice person?”

“Well,” he said, “every time we meet you're always talking about my legs. I can't help it that I've got short legs, because I was born like this.”

Mr Hare said, “Wouldn't you like to have long legs like me? You know I've got beautiful legs. I can run faster than anyone! Dogs can't even catch me. Wouldn't it be nice if your legs were like mine and you could run fast as the wind across the fields?”

And old Mr Hedgehog said, “Well, of course it would be nice to have long legs like you. But you see, Mr Hare, you don't need long legs to run fast, you know.”

“You don't need long legs to run fast?” said old Mr Hare. “Nonsense! How in the world could you run fast with those short little legs you've got? No way could you run out of the way of a dog or a fox like me. As for me, I can run swifter than the wind!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “you see, my friend, I'll tell you what I'll do with you. I'll make a bargain with you: I'll challenge you to a race!”

And old Mr Hare cocked up his ears and said, “Am I hearing right? You mean, you're challenging
me
to a race?”

“Of course!” said old Mr Hedgehog. “Are you getting deaf in your old age? I said a
race
!”

He said, “You mean
you
want to race me?”

“Of course,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “I want to race you! I want to prove to you for once and for all that even though I've got short legs, I can run faster than you.”

“Never!” said old Mr Hare. “No way could you run faster than me.”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “would you like to prove it?”

“Of course,” said old Mr Hare, rubbing his paws in glee. “This is going to be fun. I'd love to prove it!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “tomorrow morning at this gate I will meet you, and I will race you to the foot of the five-acre field. And I'll race you back again. And I will beat you. Will you promise me one thing?”

“Anything,” said old Mr Hare, “I'll promise you.”

“That you'll never call me Short Legs again as long as you live!”

Old Mr Hare said, “Look, if you want to race me, I'll race you. And then I'll beat you like you've never been beat in all your life. And I'll go so fast you will never even see me pass you by. And after I beat you I will go on calling you Short Legs all the days of your life!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “we'll just have to wait and see.”

“Done!” said old Mr Hare. “Tomorrow morning at daybreak I'm going to teach you a lesson you will never forget!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “we'll just have to wait and see. But remember now, Mr Hare, I'll be here!”

“Oh,” said old Mr Hare, “
I'll
be here!” And like that off went Mr Hare for his breakfast in the farmer's turnip field.

But what do you think old Mr Hedgehog did? He toddled away back to his little nest where his old wife lived, old Mrs Hedgehog. And he said, “My dear, would you do something for me?”

Of course, old Mrs Hedgehog she loved her old husband Mr Hedgehog very much. She said, “Of course, husband, I'll do anything for you.”

He said, “You see, my dear, I've challenged Mr Hare to a race.”

She said, “Husband, have you gone out of your mind? Have you gone crazy?”

“No, my dear, I've not gone crazy. But,” he said, “if you will agree to help me, with your help I will teach old Mr Hare a lesson he will never forget.”

She said, “What do you want me to do, husband?”

“Well,” he said, “it's so simple. You know, old Mr Hare thinks he's very clever, but he's not as clever as he thinks he is; because like everyone else, he doesn't know you from me!” (Neither do I! If you met two hedgehogs, you wouldn't know a Mr from a Mrs, would you?)

“Well,” she said, “husband, what do you want me to do?”

He said, “My dear, all I want you to do is... I want you to wait till daybreak. I will wait up at the top of the gate till Mr Hare comes down from the hillside, from his bush. And I will challenge him to a race. But I'm not going to run any, and neither are you! I want you to wait at the foot of the field. And when old Mr Hare comes down to the foot of the field all you have to do is just stand up and say, “I'm here before you!” And I will wait up at the top of the gate and I won't move. Silly old Mr Hare will never know you from me!”

So the plan was made. That night, after giving his old wife Mrs Hedgehog a little cuddle, off she went. And she wandered away down to the foot of the field. There she waited. It was summertime; the nights were not very long. And of course old Mr Hare was very bright in the morning. He liked to be up early, half past four when the sun came up. So old Mr Hedgehog he crawled away to the gate and there he waited. He never looked for a worm, he never looked for a snail; he waited for Mr Hare!

But soon as the sun began to rise, down came old Mr Hare so proud of himself. He was going to show old Mr Hedgehog this morning how to run! Like he'd never run before in all his life. And then he was going to go on calling him Short Legs every time they met. See? And many other things forbyes. Slow Coach and things like that. So when Mr Hare came to the gate, there sat old Mr Hedgehog.

He said, “Good morning, Short Legs, are you ready?”

Of course, Mr Hedgehog, who was very sensitive about his short legs, said, “You promised you wouldn't call me Short Legs any more!”

He said, “Of course I promised you – but after the race! You've not beat me yet. And you don't have one single chance in this world. I'm going to beat you, and this morning because I feel so frisky I'm going to show you what it's like to run! After I beat
you I'm going to go on calling you Short Legs all your life and many other things forbyes!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hedgehog, thinking to himself, “she'll be at the bottom of the field by this time.” He was happy. He said, “Okay, Mr Hare, are you ready?”

And Mr Hare said, “As ready as I'll ever be!” He rubbed his paws together and said, “One, two three – off we go!”

And old Mr Hare off he flew down that field faster than he'd ever run. Old Mr Hedgehog sat there and watched him running like he'd never run before in his life. But he was in for a big surprise: when he came to the foot of the field there in front of him was old Mrs Hedgehog.

She said, “I'm here before you!”

And quick as a light old Mr Hare he turned and he ran back up the field as fast as he could. But on the way up he ran faster! When he came to the top of the field, there was old Mr Hedgehog.

And old Mr Hedgehog said, “I'm here before you!”

Quick as a light old Mr Hare he turned again and down that field he ran, faster than he ever ran before! But when he came to the foot of the field there was old Mrs Hedgehog!

She said, “I'm here before you!” And of course poor old Mr Hare, not knowing Mrs Hedgehog from Mr Hedgehog, he turned again! Up that field he flew as fast as he could run.

But then old Mr Hedgehog said, “I'm still here before you!”

So up and down and up and down ran old Mr Hare. Till at last he was completely exhausted. He could not run another step. He came up to the top of the field and he was lying there, his tongue hanging out. And he was panting.

He said, “Tell me, Mr Hedgehog, tell me, please! How in the world did you ever do it? You ran so fast I never even saw you pass me by!”

“Of course,” said old Mr Hedgehog, “I told you; you wouldn't believe me that you don't need long legs to run fast, you know!”

“Well,” said old Mr Hare, “you really beat me there and I'm still not sure how you did it, but I promise you, my friend, I will never call you Short Legs again as long as I live!”

And that's why today, if you're up in the gorse hills, in the woods, you will find hedgehogs and hares asleep in the same bush – because they are very good friends! And as for old Mr Hare, he never called Mr Hedgehog Short Legs again. But, of course, you and I know that he beat him by a trick, didn't he? But we ain't going to tell Mr Hare, are we?