The darksome statesman, hung with weights and woe,Like a thick midnight-fog, moved there so slow,He did not stay, nor go.
Henry Vaughan, The WorldIn the darkness and warmth of the burrow Hazel suddenly woke, strugglingand kicking with his back legs. Something was attacking him. There was no smellof ferret or weasel. No instinct told him to run. His head cleared and he realizedthat he was alone except for Fiver. It was Fiver who was clambering over him,clawing and grabbing like a rabbit trying to climb a wire fence in a panic.
"Fiver! Fiver, wake up, you silly fellow! It's Hazel. You'll hurt me in a moment.
Wake up!"He held him down. Fiver struggled and woke.
"Oh, Hazel! I was dreaming. It was dreadful. You were there. We were sittingon water, going down a great, deep stream, and then I realized we were on aboard -- like that board in the field -- all white and covered with black lines. Therewere other rabbits there -- bucks and does. But when I looked down, I saw theboard was all made of bones and wire; and I screamed and you said, 'Swim --everybody swim'; and then I was looking for you everywhere and trying to dragyou out of a hole in the bank. I found you, but you said, 'The Chief Rabbit must goalone,' and you floated away down a dark tunnel of water.""Well, you've hurt my ribs, anyway. Tunnel of water indeed! What rubbish!
Can we go back to sleep now?""Hazel -- the danger, the bad thing. It hasn't gone away. It's here -- all roundus. Don't tell me to forget about it and go to sleep. We've got to go away before it'stoo late.""Go away? From here, you mean? From the warren?""Yes. Very soon. It doesn't matter where.""Just you and I?""No, everyone.""The whole warren? Don't be silly. They won't come. They'll say you're out ofyour wits.""Then they'll be here when the bad thing comes. You must listen to me, Hazel.
Believe me, something very bad is close upon us and we ought to go away.""Well, I suppose we'd better go and see the Chief Rabbit and you can tell himabout it. Or I'll try to. But I don't expect he'll like the idea at all."Hazel led the way down the slope of the run and up toward the bramblecurtain. He did not want to believe Fiver, and he was afraid not to.
It was a little after ni-Frith, or noon. The whole warren were underground,mostly asleep. Hazel and Fiver went a short way above ground and then into awide, open hole in a sand patch and so down, by various runs, until they werethirty feet into the wood, among the roots of an oak. Here they were stopped by alarge, heavily built rabbit -- one of the Owsla. He had a curious, heavy growth offur on the crown of his head, which gave him an odd appearance, as though hewere wearing a kind of cap. This had given him his name, Thlayli, which means,literally, "Furhead" or, as we might say, "Bigwig.""Hazel?" said Bigwig, sniffing at him in the deep twilight among the tree roots.
"It is Hazel, isn't it? What are you doing here? And at this time of day?" Heignored Fiver, who was waiting further down the run.
"We want to see the Chief Rabbit," said Hazel. "It's important, Bigwig. Can youhelp us?""We?" said Bigwig. "Is he going to see him, too?""Yes, he must. Do trust me, Bigwig. I don't usually come and talk like this, doI? When did I ever ask to see the Chief Rabbit before?""Well, I'll do it for you, Hazel, although I'll probably get my head bitten off. I'lltell him I know you're a sensible fellow. He ought to know you himself, of course,but he's getting old. Wait here, will you?"Bigwig went a little way down the run and stopped at the entrance to a largeburrow. After speaking a few words that Hazel could not catch, he was evidentlycalled inside. The two rabbits waited in silence, broken only by the continualnervous fidgeting of Fiver.
The Chief Rabbit's name and style was Threarah, meaning "Lord Rowan Tree."For some reason he was always referred to as "The Threarah" -- perhaps becausethere happened to be only one threar, or rowan, near the warren, from which hetook his name. He had won his position not only by strength in his prime, butalso by level-headedness and a certain self-contained detachment, quite unlikethe impulsive behavior of most rabbits. It was well known that he never lethimself become excited by rumor or danger. He had coolly -- some even saidcoldly -- stood firm during the terrible onslaught of the myxomatosis, ruthlesslydriving out every rabbit who seemed to be sickening. He had resisted all ideas ofmass emigration and enforced complete isolation on the warren, thereby almostcertainly saving it from extinction. It was he, too, who had once dealt with aparticularly troublesome stoat by leading it down among the pheasant coops andso (at the risk of his own life) onto a keeper's gun. He was now, as Bigwig said,getting old, but his wits were still clear enough. When Hazel and Fiver werebrought in, he greeted them politely. Owsla like Toadflax might threaten andbully. The Threarah had no need.
"Ah, Walnut. It is Walnut, isn't it?""Hazel," said Hazel.
"Hazel, of course. How very nice of you to come and see me. I knew yourmother well. And your friend--""My brother.""Your brother," said the Threarah, with the faintest suggestion of "Don'tcorrect me any more, will you?" in his voice. "Do make yourselves comfortable.
Have some lettuce?"The Chief Rabbit's lettuce was stolen by the Owsla from a garden half a mileaway across the fields. Outskirters seldom or never saw lettuce. Hazel took asmall leaf and nibbled politely. Fiver refused, and sat blinking and twitchingmiserably.
"Now, how are things with you?" said the Chief Rabbit. "Do tell me how I canhelp you.""Well, sir," said Hazel rather hesitantly, "it's because of my brother -- Fiverhere. He can often tell when there's anything bad about, and I've found him rightagain and again. He knew the flood was coming last autumn and sometimes hecan tell where a wire's been set. And now he says he can sense a bad dangercoming upon the warren.""A bad danger. Yes, I see. How very upsetting," said the Chief Rabbit, lookinganything but upset. "Now, what sort of danger, I wonder?" He looked at Fiver.
"I don't know," said Fiver. "B-but it's bad. It's so b-bad that -- it's very bad," heconcluded miserably.
The Threarah waited politely for a few moments and then he said, "Well, now,and what ought we to do about it, I wonder?""Go away," said Fiver instantly. "Go away. All of us. Now. Threarah, sir, wemust all go away."The Threarah waited again. Then, in an extremely understanding voice, hesaid, "Well, I never did! That's rather a tall order, isn't it? What do you thinkyourself?""Well, sir," said Hazel, "my brother doesn't really think about these feelings hegets. He just has the feelings, if you see what I mean. I'm sure you're the rightperson to decide what we ought to do.""Well, that's very nice of you to say that. I hope I am. But now, my dear fellows,let's just think about this a moment, shall we? It's May, isn't it? Everyone's busyand most of the rabbits are enjoying themselves. No elil for miles, or so they tellme. No illness, good weather. And you want me to tell the warren that young -- er-- young -- er -- your brother here has got a hunch and we must all go traipsingacross country to goodness knows where and risk the consequences, eh? What doyou think they'll say? All delighted, eh?""They'd take it from you," said Fiver suddenly.
"That's very nice of you," said the Threarah again. "Well, perhaps they would,perhaps they would. But I should have to consider it very carefully indeed. A mostserious step, of course. And then--""But there's no time, Threarah, sir," blurted out Fiver. "I can feel the dangerlike a wire round my neck -- like a wire -- Hazel, help!" He squealed and rolledover in the sand, kicking frantically, as a rabbit does in a snare. Hazel held himdown with both forepaws and he grew quieter.
"I'm awfully sorry, Chief Rabbit," said Hazel. "He gets like this sometimes.
He'll be all right in a minute.""What a shame! What a shame! Poor fellow, perhaps he ought to go home andrest. Yes, you'd better take him along now. Well, it's really been extremely good ofyou to come and see me, Walnut. I appreciate it very much indeed. And I shallthink over all you've said most carefully, you can be quite sure of that. Bigwig,just wait a moment, will you?"As Hazel and Fiver made their way dejectedly down the run outside theThrearah's burrow, they could just hear, from inside, the Chief Rabbit's voiceassuming a rather sharper note, interspersed with an occasional "Yes, sir," "No,sir."Bigwig, as he had predicted, was getting his head bitten off.