In the afternoon they came unto a landIn which it seemed always afternoon.
All round the coast the languid air did swoon,Breathing like one that hath a weary dream.
Tennyson, The Lotus-EatersThe corner of the opposite wood turned out to be an acute point. Beyond it, theditch and trees curved back again in a re-entrant, so that the field formed a baywith a bank running all the way round. It was evident now why Cowslip, when heleft them, had gone among the trees. He had simply run in a direct line from theirholes to his own, passing on his way through the narrow strip of woodland thatlay between. Indeed, as Hazel turned the point and stopped to look about him, hecould see the place where Cowslip must have come out. A clear rabbit track ledfrom the bracken, under the fence and into the field. In the bank on the furtherside of the bay the rabbit holes were plain to see, showing dark and distinct in thebare ground. It was as conspicuous a warren as could well be imagined.
"Sky above us!" said Bigwig. "Every living creature for miles must know that'sthere! Look at all the tracks in the grass, too! Do you think they sing in themorning, like the thrushes?""Perhaps they're too secure to bother about concealing themselves," saidBlackberry. "After all, the home warren was fairly plain to be seen.""Yes, but not like that! A couple of hrududil could go down some of thoseholes.""So could I," said Dandelion. "I'm getting dreadfully wet."As they approached, a big rabbit appeared over the edge of the ditch, looked atthem quickly and vanished into the bank. A few moments later two others cameout and waited for them. They, too, were sleek and unusually large.
"A rabbit called Cowslip offered us shelter here," said Hazel. "Perhaps youknow that he came to see us?"Both rabbits together made a curious, dancing movement of the head and frontpaws. Apart from sniffing, as Hazel and Cowslip had done when they met, formalgestures -- except between mating rabbits -- were unknown to Hazel and hiscompanions. They felt mystified and slightly ill at ease. The dancers paused,evidently waiting for some acknowledgment or reciprocal gesture, but there wasnone.
"Cowslip is in the great burrow," said one of them at length. "Would you like tofollow us there?""How many of us?" asked Hazel.
"Why, all of you," answered the other, surprised. "You don't want to stay out inthe rain, do you?"Hazel had supposed that he and one or two of his comrades would be taken tosee the Chief Rabbit -- who would probably not be Cowslip, since Cowslip hadcome to see them unattended -- in his burrow, after which they would all be givendifferent places to go to. It was this separation of which he had been afraid. Henow realized with astonishment that there was apparently a part of the warrenunderground which was big enough to contain them all together. He felt socurious to visit it that he did not stop to make any detailed arrangements aboutthe order in which they should go down. However, he put Pipkin immediatelybehind him. "It'll warm his little heart for once," he thought, "and if the leadersdo get attacked, I suppose we can spare him easier than some." Bigwig he askedto bring up the rear. "If there's any trouble, get out of it," he said, "and take asmany as you can with you." Then he followed their guides into one of the holes inthe bank.
The run was broad, smooth and dry. It was obviously a highway, for other runsbranched off it in all directions. The rabbits in front went fast and Hazel had littletime to sniff about as he followed. Suddenly he checked. He had come into anopen place. His whiskers could feel no earth in front and none was near his sides.
There was a good deal of air ahead of him -- he could feel it moving -- and therewas a considerable space above his head. Also, there were several rabbits nearhim. It had not occurred to him that there would be a place underground wherehe would be exposed on three sides. He backed quickly and felt Pipkin at his tail.
"What a fool I was!" he thought. "Why didn't I put Silver there?" At this momenthe heard Cowslip speaking. He jumped, for he could tell that he was some wayaway. The size of the place must be immense.
"Is that you, Hazel?" said Cowslip. "You're welcome, and so are your friends.
We're glad you've come."No human beings, except the courageous and experienced blind, are able tosense much in a strange place where they cannot see, but with rabbits it isotherwise. They spend half their lives underground in darkness or near-darkness,and touch, smell and hearing convey as much or more to them than sight. Hazelnow had the clearest knowledge of where he was. He would have recognized theplace if he had left at once and come back six months later. He was at one end ofthe largest burrow he had ever been in; sandy, warm and dry, with a hard, barefloor. There were several tree roots running across the roof and it was these thatsupported the unusual span. There was a great number of rabbits in the place --many more than he was bringing. All had the same rich, opulent smell as Cowslip.
Cowslip himself was at the other end of the hall and Hazel realized that he waswaiting for him to reply. His own companions were still coming out of theentrance burrow one by one and there was a good deal of scrabbling andshuffling. He wondered if he ought to be very formal. Whether or not he couldcall himself a Chief Rabbit, he had had no experience of this sort of thing. TheThrearah would no doubt have risen to the occasion perfectly. He did not want toappear at a loss or to let his followers down. He decided that it would be best tobe plain and friendly. After all, there would be plenty of time, as they settleddown in the warren, to show these strangers that they were as good asthemselves, without risking trouble by putting on airs at the start.
"We're glad to be out of the bad weather," he said. "We're like all rabbits --happiest in a crowd. When you came over to see us in the field, Cowslip, you saidyour warren wasn't large, but judging by the holes we saw along the bank, it mustbe what we'd reckon a fine, big one."As he finished he sensed that Bigwig had just entered the hall, and knew thatthey were all together again. The stranger rabbits seemed slightly disconcerted byhis little speech and he felt that for some reason or other he had not struck theright note in complimenting them on their numbers. Perhaps there were not verymany of them after all? Had there been disease? There was no smell or sign of it.
These were the biggest and healthiest rabbits he had ever met. Perhaps theirfidgeting and silence had nothing to do with what he had said? Perhaps it wassimply that he had not spoken very well, being new to it, and they felt that he wasnot up to their fine ways? "Never mind," he thought. "After last night I'm sure ofmy own lot. We wouldn't be here at all if we weren't handy in a pinch. These otherfellows will just have to get to know us. They don't seem to dislike us, anyway."There were no more speeches. Rabbits have their own conventions andformalities, but these are few and short by human standards. If Hazel had been ahuman being he would have been expected to introduce his companions one byone and no doubt each would have been taken in charge as a guest by one of theirhosts. In the great burrow, however, things happened differently. The rabbitsmingled naturally. They did not talk for talking's sake, in the artificial mannerthat human beings -- and sometimes even their dogs and cats -- do. But this didnot mean that they were not communicating; merely that they were notcommunicating by talking. All over the burrow, both the newcomers and thosewho were at home were accustoming themselves to each other in their own wayand their own time; getting to know what the strangers smelled like, how theymoved, how they breathed, how they scratched, the feel of their rhythms andpulses. These were their topics and subjects of discussion, carried on without theneed of speech. To a greater extent than a human in a similar gathering, eachrabbit, as he pursued his own fragment, was sensitive to the trend of the whole.
After a time, all knew that the concourse was not going to turn sour or break upin a fight. Just as a battle begins in a state of equilibrium between the two sides,which gradually alters one way or the other until it is clear that the balance hastilted so far that the issue can no longer be in doubt -- so this gathering of rabbitsin the dark, beginning with hesitant approaches, silences, pauses, movements,crouchings side by side and all ma............