Why should he think me cruelOr that he is betrayed?
I'd have him love the thing that wasBefore the world was made.
W.B. Yeats, A Woman Young and Old"Long ago, Frith made the world. He made all the stars, too, and the world isone of the stars. He made them by scattering his droppings over the sky and thisis why the grass and the trees grow so thick on the world. Frith makes the riversflow. They follow him as he goes through the sky, and when he leaves the sky theylook for him all night. Frith made all the animals and birds, but when he firstmade them they were all the same. The sparrow and the kestrel were friends andthey both ate seeds and flies. And the fox and the rabbit were friends and theyboth ate grass. And there was plenty of grass and plenty of flies, because theworld was new and Frith shone down bright and warm all day.
"Now, El-ahrairah was among the animals in those days and he had manywives. He had so many wives that there was no counting them, and the wives hadso many young that even Frith could not count them, and they ate the grass andthe dandelions and the lettuces and the clover, and El-ahrairah was the father ofthem all." (Bigwig growled appreciatively.) "And after a time," went onDandelion, "after a time the grass began to grow thin and the rabbits wanderedeverywhere, multiplying and eating as they went.
"Then Frith said to El-ahrairah, 'Prince Rabbit, if you cannot control yourpeople, I shall find ways to control them. So mark what I say.' But El-ahrairahwould not listen and he said to Frith, 'My people are the strongest in the world,for they breed faster and eat more than any of the other people. And this showshow much they love Lord Frith, for of all the animals they are the mostresponsive to his warmth and brightness. You must realize, my lord, howimportant they are and not hinder them in their beautiful lives.'
"Frith could have killed El-ahrairah at once, but he had a mind to keep him inthe world, because he needed him to sport and jest and play tricks. So hedetermined to get the better of him, not by means of his own great power but bymeans of a trick. He gave out that he would hold a great meeting and that at thatmeeting he wouid give a present to every animal and bird, to make each onedifferent from the rest. And all the creatures set out to go to the meeting place.
But they all arrived at different times, because Frith made sure that it wouldhappen so. And when the blackbird came, he gave him his beautiful song, andwhen the cow came, he gave her sharp horns and the strength to be afraid of noother creature. And so in their turn came the fox and the stoat and the weasel.
And to each of them Frith gave the cunning and the fierceness and the desire tohunt and slay and eat the children of El-ahrairah. And so they went away fromFrith full of nothing but hunger to kill the rabbits.
"Now, all this time El-ahrairah was dancing and mating and boasting that hewas going to Frith's meeting to receive a great gift. And at last he set out for themeeting place. But as he was going there, he stopped to rest on a soft, sandyhillside. And while he was resting, over the hill came flying the dark swift,screaming as he went, 'News! News! News!' For you know, this is what he has saidever since that day. So El-ahrairah called up to him and said, 'What news?' 'Why,'
said the swift, 'I would not be you, El-ahrairah. For Frith has given the fox andthe weasel cunning hearts and sharp teeth, and to the cat he has given silent feetand eyes that can see in the dark, and they are gone away from Frith's place to killand devour all that belongs to El-ahrairah.' And he dashed on over the hills. Andat that moment El-ahrairah heard the voice of Frith calling, 'Where is El-ahrairah? For all the others have taken their gifts and gone and I have come tolook for him.'
"Then El-ahrairah knew that Frith was too clever for him and he wasfrightened. He thought that the fox and the weasel were coming with Frith and heturned to the face of the hill and began to dig. He dug a hole, but he had dug onlya little of it when Frith came over the hill alone. And he saw El-ahrairah's bottomsticking out of the hole and the sand flying out in showers as the digging went on.
When he saw that, he called out, 'My friend, have you seen El-ahrairah, for I amlooking for him to give him my gift?' 'No,' answered El-ahrairah, without comingout, 'I have not seen him. He is far away. He could not come.' So Frith said, 'Thencome out of that hole and I will bless you instead of him.' 'No, I cannot,' said El-ahrairah, 'I am busy. The fox and the weasel are coming. If you want to bless meyou can bless my bottom, for it is sticking out of the hole.'"All the rabbits had heard the story before: on winter nights, when the colddraft moved down the warren passages and the icy wet lay in the pits of the runsbelow their burrows; and on summer evenings, in the grass under the red mayand the sweet, carrion-scented elder bloom. Dandelion was telling it well, andeven Pipkin forgot his weariness and danger and remembered instead the greatindestructibility of the rabbits. Each one of them saw himself as El-ahrairah, whocould be impudent to Frith and get away with it.
"Then," said Dandelion, "Frith felt himself in friendship with El-ahrairah, whowould not give up even when he thought the fox and the weasel were coming. Andhe said, 'Very well, I will bless your bottom as it sticks out of the hole. Bottom, bestrength and warning and speed forever and save the life of your master. Be itso!' And as he spoke, El-ahrairah's tail grew shining white and flashed like a star;and his back legs grew long and powerful and he thumped the hillside until thevery beetles fell off the the grass stems. He came out of the hole and tore acrossthe hill faster than any creature in the world. And Frith called after him, 'El-ahrairah, your people cannot rule the world, for I will not have it so. All the worldwill be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catchyou, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner,prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shallnever be destroyed.' And El-ahrairah knew then that although he would not bemocked, yet Frith was his friend. And every evening, when Frith has done hisday's work and lies calm and easy in the red sky, El-ahrairah and his children andhis children's children come out of their holes and feed and play in his sight, forthey are his friends and he has promised them that they can never be destroyed."