He which hath no stomach to this fight,Let him depart, his passport shall be madeAnd crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's companyThat fears his fellowship, to die with us.
Shakespeare, Henry VThe following morning all the rabbits were out at silflay by dawn and there wasa good deal of excitement as they waited for Hazel. During the previous few daysBlackberry had had to repeat several times the story of the journey to the farmand the finding of Hazel in the drain. One or two had suggested that Kehaar musthave found Hazel and told Fiver secretly. But Kehaar denied this and, whenpressed, replied cryptically that Fiver was one who had traveled a good dealfurther than he had himself. As for Hazel, he had acquired, in everyone's eyes, akind of magical quality. Of all the warren, Dandelion was the last rabbit to fail todo justice to a good story and he had made the most of Hazel's heroic dash out ofthe ditch to save his friends from the farmers. No one had even suggested thatHazel might have been reckless in going to the farm. Against all odds he had gotthem two does: and now he was bringing their luck back to the warren.
Just before sunrise Pipkin and Speedwell saw Fiver coming through the wetgrass near the summit of the down. They ran out to meet him and waited withhim until Hazel came up to them. Hazel was limping and had evidently found theclimb a strain, but after resting and feeding for a short time he was able to rundown to the warren almost as fast as the others. The rabbits crowded round.
Everyone wanted to touch him. He was sniffed and tussled with and rolled over inthe grass until he felt almost as though he were being attacked. Human beings, onoccasions of this kind, are usually full of questions, but the rabbits expressedtheir delight simply by proving to themselves through their senses that this wasreally Hazel-rah. It was all he could do to stand up to the rough play. "I wonderwhat would happen if I lay down under it?" he thought. "They'd kick me out, Idare say. They wouldn't have a crippled Chief Rabbit. This is a test as well as awelcome, even though they don't know it themselves. I'll test them, the rascals,before I'm done."He pushed Buckthorn and Speedwell off his back and broke away to the edgeof the wood. Strawberry and Boxwood were on the bank and he joined them andsat washing and combing himself in the sunrise.
"We can do with a few well-behaved fellows like you," he said to Boxwood.
"Look at that rough lot out there -- they nearly finished me off! What on earth doyou make of us and how are you settling down?""Well, of course we find it strange," said Boxwood, "but we're learning.
Strawberry here has been helping me a great deal. We were just seeing how manysmells I could tell on the wind, but that's something that'll only come slowly. Thesmells are awfully strong on a farm, you know, and they don't mean much whenyou live behind wire. As far as I can make out, you all live by smell.""Don't take too many risks to begin with," said Hazel. "Keep near the burrows-- don't go out alone -- all that sort of thing. And how about you, Strawberry? Areyou better?""More or less," answered Strawberry, "as long as I sleep a lot and sit in the sun,Hazel-rah. I've been terrified half out of my wits -- that's the bottom of it. I've hadthe shivers and the horrors for days. I kept thinking I was back in Efrafa.""What was it like in Efrafa?" asked Hazel.
"I'd rather die than go back to Efrafa," said Strawberry, "or risk goinganywhere near it. I don't know which was worse, the boredom or the fear. All thesame," he added after a few moments, "there are rabbits there who'd be the sameas we are if they could only live naturally, like us. Several would be glad to leavethe place if they only could."Before they went underground Hazel talked to almost all the rabbits. As heexpected, they were disappointed over the failure at Efrafa and full of indignationat the ill-treatment of Holly and his companions. More than one thought, likeHolly, that the two does were likely to give rise to trouble.
"There should have been more, Hazel," said Bigwig. "We shall all be at eachother's throats, you know -- I don't see how it's to be helped."Late in the afternoon Hazel called everyone into the Honeycomb.
"I've been thinking things over," he said. "I know you must all have been reallydisappointed not to have got rid of me at Nuthanger Farm the other day, so I'vedecided to go a bit further next time.""Where?" asked Bluebell.
"To Efrafa," replied Hazel, "if I can get anyone to come with me: and we shallbring back as many does as the warren needs."There were murmurs of astonishment, and then Speedwell asked, "How?""Blackberry and I have got a plan," said Hazel, "but I'm not going to explain itnow, for this reason. You all know that this is going to be a dangerous business. Ifany of you get caught and taken into Efrafa, they'll make you talk, all right. Butthose who don't know a plan can't give it away. I'll explain it later on, at theproper time.""Are you going to need many rabbits, Hazel-rah?" asked Dandelion. "From all Ihear, the whole lot of us wouldn't be enough to fight the Efrafans.""I hope we shan't have to fight at all," replied Hazel, "but there's always thepossibility. Anyway, it'll be a long journey home with the does, and if by anychance we meet a Wide Patrol on the way, there have got to be enough of us todeal with them.""Would we have to go into Efrafa?" asked Pipkin timidly.
"No," said Hazel, "we shall--""I never thought, Hazel," interrupted Holly, "I never thought that the timewould come when I should feel obliged to speak against you. But I can only sayagain that this is likely to be a complete disaster. I know what you think -- you'recounting on General Woundwort not having anyone as clever as Blackberry andFiver. You're quite right -- I don't think he has. But the fact remains that no onecan get a bunch of does away from that place. You all know that I've spent my lifepatrolling and tracking in the open. Well, there are rabbits in the Efrafan Owslawho are better at it than I am -- I'm admitting it: and they'll hunt you down withyour does and kill you. Great Frith! We all have to meet our match some time orother! I know you want only to help us all, but do be sensible and give thisscheme up. Believe me, the best thing to do with a place like Efrafa is to stay asfar away from it as possible."Talk broke out all ove............