Running Rabbit
There
was once a rabbit who was known to be the fastest rabbit
in the world. The elders often spoke of this rabbit whenever
a young boy came of age and it was time to test his hunting
skills.
One small boy, who had heard the tale of this rabbit many times, decided that he would be the one to finally bring him in. As the years passed and the boy came of age, still no one had managed to bag Running Rabbit.
The elders cheered the boy on as he carved his first bow and arrow. He was given three days to hunt the rabbit. It was known that this rabbit always stayed in a certain flat area that was at least a mile long. It was here that the boy waited until he saw Running Rabbit.
“I have
waited for you for a long time, and now you are old and
it is time for you to leave this world,” the boy said
to the rabbit as he drew back his arrow. But
by the time the arrow had left the bow, the rabbit had disappeared.
“That rabbit doesn’t seem to get older, he just gets faster,” the boy said to himself.
As night fell, the boy returned to camp, hearing the elders cheering his arrival because they had thought for sure that he would be the one to bring in the tricky old rabbit.
The boy did not hunt the next day, but instead searched for the strongest, straightest greasewood plant. From this plant he formed the sleekest arrow. Then he found the healthiest, most powerful elderberry tree from which he carved his new bow.
The boy decorated his new tools with elegant feathers from the magical flicker bird. Finally he shaped the sharpest, longest arrowhead, creating the least amount of wind resistance. When all was prepared, he fell asleep satisfied.
The next morning the boy returned to the flat and waited with complete confidence for Running Rabbit. As he strained his eyes to see through the early morning mist, he spied a streak of dust cutting through the fog. There he was!
The boy drew back his bow, and as the arrow left, so did the rabbit, who was showing off his fast running. About a mile away, the boy could see a large dark cloud rising up from the meadow.
When he reached
the end of the flat, the boy saw a strange thing. There
was his arrow, with the flicker feathers flying in the breeze,
pinning a rabbit’s
fur to the ground. But where was
Running Rabbit? The boy searched the meadow for hours before
finally returning to camp with just the rabbit’s soft
coat. The elders thought the boy had made rabbit stew before
returning home, so no one ever asked.
But the truth was, instead of running away from the boy, the rabbit had been showing off, and when he jumped so high and fast he ran into the arrow’s path and got skinned. Running Rabbit narrowly escaped with his life, but not before losing his beautiful coat.
The naked rabbit was so embarrassed that he had to hide until he grew a new coat, and from then on he was shy like all the other rabbits.
