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| The Rabit, the Otter, and Duck Hunting. |
| As told by The Warrior based on James Mooney |
The Rabbit was known far and wide for his boastful nature. To hear him tell it, he could do what anyone else could do. He was so good at this that he even was able to convince the Otter that he could catch and eat fish just as
good as him.
Now time went by, and the Otter meet the Rabbit again. Now it just so happen that the Otter was still a bit miffed about the fish. He had a plan to expose the Rabbit. The Otter looked at the Rabbit, and said to him. "You know, I sometimes eat Duck too!" So off to the river they went and
found seven ducks, which they every so quietly were able to sneak up on. "You go first", cried the Rabbit, to which the Otter quickly slid into the water. He quickly was able to drag a duck under and return to the Rabbit unseen.
Now the Rabbit had not just been standing around watching. While the Otter was otherwise occupied, he had been striping bark from near by sapling and making himself a noose. He looked at the Otter when he returned and said,
"OK, that is great, watch me!", and off he took into the water. Now the Rabbit did not have anywhere near the ability in water that the Otter had. And it was a struggle for him to reach the ducks un-noticed, but he managed
to do so and came up among the remaining six ducks. He quickly fastened his noose around the neck of the closest duck. Startled, the duck began to struggle to get away and finally took of on his wings and dragged the Rabbit out of the water after him. Now it was the Rabbits turn to be startled. And boy was he. He held on to the noose and was taken high into the air. Higher and higher he went. All of a sudden, he lost his grip on the noose and down he fell into the middle of a old hollow Sycamore tree with out a
hole in the bottom to get out.
Now the Rabbit was in a fix. He stayed in there so long that he had to start eating his own fur, as rabbits still do to this day when the are starved. Then one day, he heard some children playing and he began to sing in a weak little voice. The song he sang went like this. "Cut a hole and see me, I am the prettiest thing you ever did see"
Soon the children had returned with on of the fathers who cut a who so that the Rabbit could get out. He told them to stand back and see, and out he ran and took his leave.
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