Wolf Legend
How Rabbit Fooled Wolf
Two pretty girls lived not far from Rabbit and Wolf
One day Rabbit called upon Wolf and said
"Let's go and visit those pretty girls up the road"
"All right," Wolf said and they started off
When they got to the girls' house they were invited in
But both girls took a great liking to Wolf and paid all their attention to him
Rabbit had to sit by and look on
Rabbit of course was not pleased by this
And he soon said, "We had better be going back"
"Let's wait a while longer" Wolf replied
They remained until late in the day
Before they left
Rabbit found a chance to speak to one of the girls
So that Wolf could not overhear
He said
"The one you've been having so much fun with is my old horse"
"I think you are lying," the girl replied
"No
I am not
You shall see me ride him up here tomorrow"
"If we see you ride him up here" the girl said with a laugh
"We will believe he's only your old horse"
When the two left the house the girls said
"Call on us again"
Next morning Wolf was up early knocking on Rabbit's door
"It's time to visit those girls again" he announced
Rabbit groaned
"Oh, I was sick all night" he answered
"I hardly feel able to go"
Wolf kept urging him
Finally Rabbit said
"If you will let me ride you
I might go along to keep you company"
Wolf agreed to carry him astride of his back
But then Rabbit said
"I would like to put a saddle on you so as to brace myself"
When Wolf agreed to this
Rabbit added
"I believe it would be better if I should also bridle you"
Although Wolf objected at first to being bridled
Wolf gave in when Rabbit said he did not think he could hold on
And manage to get as far as the girls' house without a bridle
Finally Rabbit wanted to put on spurs
"I am too ticklish" Wolf protested
"I will not spur you with them " Rabbit promised
"I will hold them away from you
But it would be nicer to have them on"
At last Wolf agreed to this
But he repeated "I am very ticklish
You must not spur me"
"When we get near the girls' house" Rabbit said
"We will take everything off you and walk the rest of the way"
And so they started up the road
Rabbit proudly riding upon Wolf's back
When they were nearly in sight of the house
Rabbit raked his spurs into Wolf's sides
Wolf galloped full speed right by the house
"Those girls have seen you now" Rabbit said
"I will tie you here and go up to see them and try to explain everything
I'll come back after a while and get you"
And so Rabbit went back to the house and said to the girls
"You both saw me riding my old horse did you not?"
"Yes" they answered
He sat down and had a good time with them
After a while Rabbit thought he ought to go and untie Wolf
He started back to the place where he was fastened
He knew that Wolf must be very angry with him by this time
He thought up a way to untie him and get rid of him without any danger to himself
He moved around a thin hollow log beating upon it as it were a drum
Then he ran up to Wolf as fast as he could go crying out
"The soldiers are hunting for you!
They heard the drum
The soldiers are after you"
Wolf was very much frightened of the soldiers
"Let me go, let me go!" he shouted
Rabbit was purposely slow in untying him
He had barely freed him
When Wolf broke away and ran as fast as he could into the woods
Then Rabbit returned home
He laughed to himself over how he had fooled Wolf
He felt satisfied that he could have the girls to himself for a while
Near the girls' house was a large peach orchard
One day they asked Rabbit to shake the peaches off the tree for them
They went to the orchard together
He climbed up into the tree to shake the peaches off
While he was there Wolf suddenly appeared and called out
"Rabbit old fellow
I'm going to even the score with you
I am not going to leave you alone until I do"
Rabbit raised his head
He pretended to be looking at some people off in the distance
Then he shouted from the treetop
"Here is that fellow, Wolf, you've been hunting for!"
At this Wolf took fright and ran away again
Some time after this
Rabbit was resting against a tree-trunk that leaned toward the ground
When he saw Wolf coming along toward him
He stood up so that the bent tree-trunk pressed against his shoulder
"I have you now" said Wolf
Rabbit quickly replied
"Some people told me that if I would hold this tree up
With the great power I have that they would bring me four hogs in payment
Now I don't like hog meat as well as you do
So if you take my place they'll give the hogs to you"
Wolf's greed was excited by this
He said he was willing to hold up the tree
He squeezed in beside Rabbit
Rabbit said "You must hold it tight or it will fall down"
Rabbit then ran off
Wolf stood with his back pressed hard against the bent tree trunk
Finally he decided he could stand it no longer
He jumped away quickly so the tree would not fall upon him
Then he saw that it was only a leaning tree rooted in the earth
"That Rabbit is the biggest liar" he cried
"If I can catch him I will certainly fix him"
After that, Wolf hunted for Rabbit every day
He found him lying in a nice grassy place
He was about to spring upon him
When Rabbit said "My friend, I've been waiting to see you again
I have something good for you to eat
Somebody killed a pony out there in the road
If you wish I'll help you drag it out of the road
To a place where you can make a feast off it"
"All right" Wolf said
He followed Rabbit out to the road where a pony was lying asleep
"I'm not strong enough to move the pony by myself" said Rabbit
"So I will tie its tail to yours and help you by pushing"
Rabbit tied their tails together carefully so as not to awaken the pony
Then he grabbed the pony by the ears as if he were going to lift it up
The pony woke up
It jumped to its feet and ran away dragging Wolf behind
Wolf struggled frantically to free his tail
But all he could do was scratch on the ground with his claws
"Pull with all your might" Rabbit shouted after him
"How can I pull with all my might" Wolf cried
"I am not standing on the ground?"
By and by
However
Wolf got loose
Rabbit had to go into hiding for a very long time
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