Marriage Of Brother Rabbit
Tim, tim! Bois sec. Cre coton / Brother Rabbit is a little fellow who knows how to jump!
You must all remember, after they had thrown Brother Rabbit into the briers, how quickly he had run away, saying that it was “in those very thorns” that his mother had made him. Now then, I will tell you that on the same day Miss leona went to meet him, and they started traveling.
They walked for a long time, for at least a month; at last they reached the bank of a river which was very deep. The current was strong, too strong for them to swim over. On the other side of the river there was a pretty place: the trees were green and loaded with all kinds of fruits. Under the trees were flowers of every kind that there is in the world. When a person breathed there, it was as if a bottle of essence had been opened in a room.
Miss leona said: “Let us go to live there; besides, we cannot return to my father’s. There, we shall be happy, and no one will bother us; but how can we cross over to the other side?”
“Stop,” said Brother Rabbit, “let me think for a moment,” and then he began to walk and walk, until he saw a large piece of dry wood which had fallen into the water. “That is what I want,” he said. He cut a tall pole, and then he mounted on the log and told leona to follow him. Poor Miss leona also mounted, but she was so much afraid that she was trembling dreadfully.
“Hold on well; you will see how we will pass” and he pushed with his stick. The log began to go down the current; they were going like lightning, and Rabbit kept on paddling. They sailed for half a day before they were able to reach the other side, for the current was so strong that the log was carried along all the time. At last it passed very near the shore. “Jump, jump,” said Brother Rabbit, and hardly had he spoken than he was on shore. Miss leona finally also jumped, and they found themselves on the other side of the river. They were very glad, and the first thing they did was to eat as much as they could of the good things they found there. Then they took a good rest.
They found a pretty place to pass the night, and the next day, at dawn, they took a good walk. As everything they saw was so fine, they thought they would remain there to live. When they had run away, they had not been able to take any money with them, so they were without a cent. But God had blessed them, for they had come to a place where they did not need much money. They had already been there a good while, and they were quiet and content, and they thought that they were alone, when one day, they heard, all at once, a noise, a tumult, as if thunder was rolling on the ground.
“What is that, my lord? Go see, Brother Rabbit.”
“Me, no, because if I am foolish enough to go, then something bad will catch me. It is better for me to stay quiet, and in that way, nothing can happen to me.”
The noise kept on increasing, until they saw a procession of elephants approaching. As they were passing quietly without attacking any one, it gave Brother Rabbit a little courage. He went to the chief of the elephants and he asked his permission to remain in his country; he said that he came from the country of King Lion, who had wanted to kill him, and he had run away with his wife.
The elephant replied: “That is good; you may remain here as long as you want, but don’t you bring other animals who know how to eat one another here. As long as you behave well, I will protect you, and nobody will come to get you here. Come sometimes to see me, and I will try to do something for you.”
Some time after that, Brother Rabbit went to see the king of elephants, and the king was so glad when Brother Rabbit explained to him how he could make a great deal of money, that he immediately named Brother Rabbit captain of his bank and watchman of his property.
Back in Brother Rabbit’s home country there was a well whose waters made people drunk. He had gotten into the habit of drinking from it, and when he saw the riches of the elephant king, he returned to his old habit.
One evening he came home very drunk, and he began quarreling with his wife. Miss leona fell upon him and gave him such a beating that he remained in bed for three weeks. When he got up, he asked his wife to pardon him; he said that he was drunk, and that he would never do it again, and he kissed her. In his heart, however, he could not forgive leona. He swore that he would leave her, but before that he was resolved to give her a terrible beating.
One evening when leona was sleeping, Brother Rabbit took a rope and tied her feet in front and behind. In that way he was sure of his business. Then he took a good whip, and he whipped her until she lost consciousness. Then he left her and went on traveling. He wanted to go to a place where they would never hear of him any more, because he was afraid that leona would kill him, and he went far.
When Miss leona came back to herself, she called, she called; they came to see what was the matter, and they found her well tied up. They cut the ropes, and leona started immediately. She left her house, she travelled a long time, until she came to the same river which she had crossed with Brother Rabbit upon the log. She did not hesitate, but jumped into the water. The current carried her along, and she managed, after a great many efforts, to cross over to the other side. She was very tired, and she had to take some rest; then she started to return to her father.
When her father saw her, he kissed her and caressed her, but his daughter began to cry, and told him how Brother Rabbit had treated her. When King Lion heard that, he was so angry that all who were near him began to tremble.
“Come here, Master Fox; you shall go to the king of elephants, and tell him, that if he does not send Brother Rabbit to me as soon as he can, I shall go to his country to kill him and all the elephants, and all the other animals, and everything which is in his country. Go quick!”
Master Fox travelled a long time, and arrived at last in the country where Brother Rabbit was hidden. But he did not see him; he asked for him, but no one could give him any news of him. Master Fox went to see the king of elephants and told him what King Lion had said. The elephants hate the lions, so the king replied: “Tell your master that if he wishes me to break his jaw-bone, let him come. I shall not send anything or anybody, and first of all, go away from here quickly. If you want good advice, I can tell you that you had better remain in your country. If ever Lion tries to come here, I shall receive him in such a manner that no one of you will ever return home.”
Master Fox did not wait to hear any more; but he had no great desire to go back to his country, for he thought Lion would kill him if he returned without Brother Rabbit. He walked as slowly as he could, and all along the road he saw that they were making preparations for war. He thought that perhaps the elephants were going to attack King Lion. He went on his way, and on arriving at a prairie he saw Brother Rabbit, who was running in zig zags, sometimes on one side of the road, sometimes on the other. He stopped whenever he met animals and spoke to them, and then he started again as rapidly as before. At last Master Fox and Brother Rabbit met, but the latter did not recognize his old friend.
“Where are you going like that, running all the time?”
“Ah!” replied Brother Rabbit, “you don’t know the bad news. Lion has declared war against all elephants, and I want to notify all mules, horses, and camels to get out of the way.”
“But you, why are you running so? They are surely not going to make a soldier of you?”
“No, you believe that. Ah, well, with all your cunning you know nothing. When the officers of the king will come to get the horses and mules for the cavalry to go to war, they will say: ‘That’s a fellow with long ears; he is a mule; let us take him.’ Even if I protest, and say that I am a rabbit, they will say: ‘ Oh, no ! look at his ears; you see that he is a mule and I should be caught, enlisted, and forced to march. It seems to me that I know you, but it is such a long time since I have seen you. May God help me, it is Master Fox, my old friend ! ”
“Yes, yes, it is I, my good fellow. Well! What do you say about all that bad business ? ”
“All that is for a woman,” said Brother Rabbit; “we must try, my friend, to have nothing to do with that war.”
“But what shall we do? ” said Master Fox. ” They will force us into it.”
“No, you must be King Lion’s adviser, and I will be that of King Elephant, and in that way we shall merely look on and let them fight as much as they want.”
“You know,” said Master Fox, “Leona has returned to her father; and as you were not married before the church, I believe that Lion is about to marry her to one of his neighbors. Does it not grieve you, Brother Rabbit, to think of that?”
“Oh, no; we feel no sorrow for what we do not see.”
The two cunning fellows conversed for a long time, for they were glad to meet after such a long absence. As they were about to part, they saw two dogs that stood nose to nose, growling fiercely, and then turned around rapidly and began to smell each other everywhere.
“You, Master Fox, who knows everything, can you tell me why dogs have the bad habit of smelling each other in that way?”
“I will tell you, Brother Rabbit, why they do that. In old, old times, when there was but one god, called Mr. Jupiter, all the dogs considered their lot so hard and unhappy that they sent a delegation to ask Mr. Jupiter to better their condition. When they arrived at the house of the god in heaven, all the dogs were so frightened that they ran away. Only one remained; it was Brisetout, the largest dog of the party. He was not afraid of anything, and he came to Mr. Jupiter, and spoke thus: ‘My nation sent me to see you to ask you whether you think that we are going to watch over our masters all day and all night, bark all the time, and then be kicked right and left and have nothing to eat. We are too unhappy, and we want to know if you will allow us once in a while to eat one of the sheep of our masters. We cannot work like this for nothing. What do you say, Mr. Jupiter?’
“Wait a moment; I shall give you such a reply that you will never wish to annoy me any more. I am tired of hearing all sorts of complaints. I am tired, do you hear?’
“Then Mr. Jupiter spoke a language that no one could understand, and one of his clerks went out to get something. He told the dog to sit down. Brisetout remained on the last step of the staircase. He thought that Mr. Jupiter was going to give him a good dinner; but the first thing he knew, the clerk returned with another man. They took hold of Brisetout, they tied him well, then they took a tin pan in which they put red pepper and turpentine. They rubbed the dog all over with the mixture; it burnt him so much that he howled and bellowed. When they let him go, Mr. Jupiter told him: ‘You will give my reply to your comrades, and each one that will come to complain will be received in the same manner; you hear?’
“Ah, no, Brisetout did not hear; he ran straight ahead without knowing where he was going. At last he arrived at a bayou, fell into it, and drowned.
Some time after that, Mr. Jupiter did not feel well. He thought he would leave heaven and take a little trip to earth. On his way he saw an apple-tree which was covered with beautiful apples. He began to eat some; and while he was eating, a troop of dogs came to bark at him. Mr. Jupiter ordered his stick to give them a good drubbing. The stick began to turn to the right and to the left, and beat the dogs so terribly that they scattered about in a minute.
There remained but one poor dog, who was all mangy. He begged the stick to spare him. Then Stick pushed him before Mr. Jupiter, and said: ‘Master, that dog was so thin that I did not have the courage to beat him.’ ‘It is very well’ said Mr. Jupiter, “let him go; but if ever any dog comes to bark at me again, I shall destroy them all. I don’t want to be bothered by you, I say. You have already sent me a delegation, and I received them so well that I don’t think they will like to come back to see me. Have you already forgotten that?” The poor lean dog replied: ‘What you say is true, but we never saw again the messenger we sent you; we are still waiting for him.’ Mr. Jupiter then said: ‘I will tell you how you can find out the messenger you had sent to me: let all dogs smell one another, and the one which will smell turpentine is the messenger.’
“You see now, Brother Rabbit, why dogs smell one another. It was all Mr. Jupiter’s doing. Poor old fellow, he has now lost all his clients, since the pope ordered everybody to leave him, and he has had to close his shop. He left heaven, and no one knows where he went to hide. You understand, Brother Rabbit, people get tired of always having the same thing; so they took another religion, and I think that the one we have now is good.”
“Thank you, thank you, Master Fox, for your good story; and in order to show you that I am your old friend, I will tell you what we can do. As I told you already, we must remain very quiet. As the elephants want to go to attack King Lion in his own country, they will make a bridge for the army to pass. When the bridge is finished they will go straight ahead, without stopping anywhere, to attack King Lion, for they want to take him by surprise. Don’t you tell that to anybody, you hear.”
Brother Rabbit and Master Fox then shook hands, and they parted. Master Fox went on his way, and Brother Rabbit went to the king of elephants and asked him to give orders to all the carpenters and blacksmiths in the country to obey him. When all the workmen were assembled, Brother Rabbit began to make the bridge, and soon finished it. On the side of the river which was in the country of the elephants, he made at the end of the bridge a large park. These were bars of iron planted in the earth; they were at least ten feet high, and so sharp that a fly could not touch one without being pierced through. Brother Rabbit then covered the bars of iron with branches and brambles to make it appear like a patch of briers, in order that they might not know that it was a snare. Then he took four cows with their calves, and tied them in the very middle of the pit. Then he put red pepper, ashes, and tobacco snuff in it. Then he placed in the trap a great number of tubs of water, in which there was a drug that made people go to sleep right. After he had finished all this, Brother Rabbit said: “Now let King Lion come to attack us.”
Master Fox was still traveling to render an account of his errand to King Lion; but he was so afraid to return without Brother Rabbit, that he concluded that it was better not to return at all. On his way he met a hen; he killed it, and covered an old rag with the blood. He tied his hind paw with the rag, and he began to limp, and jump on three feet. At last he met Donkey, to whom he said: “My dear friend, render me a little service; you see how sick I am. I pray you go to King Lion, to tell him that I cannot come to see him. The elephants broke my leg because I had come to claim Brother Rabbit.”
“Oh, no!” said Donkey; “you were always against me with Brother Rabbit. Go by yourself.”
“That is good,” said Master Fox; “I shall have my chance again, you will need me again. If you knew what I have seen and what I know, you would listen to me.”
“Well, tell me all,” said Donkey; “and I will go, since you cannot walk.”
“That is fine; listen well. The elephants intend to come to attack King Lion in his country. They are making a bridge to cross the river, and as soon as the bridge is finished they will come immediately to surprise Lion. If the king understood his business, he would hasten to attack the elephants in their own country, before they come to lift him up before he knows it.”
As soon as Master Fox had finished speaking, Donkey galloped away and went to King Lion, to whom he said what Master Fox had related to him. The king was so glad that he ordered someone to give Donkey a little hay to eat. Donkey was not very much pleased, and he began grumbling. “Don’t you know, Donkey,” said the king’s servant, “that you must not look at the bridle of a horse which was given to you.”
“Well,” said Donkey, ” I had expected a better reward, but I’ll take that anyhow, because a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.”
All at once they heard a dreadful noise. It was King Lion, who was starting the war with all the animals which he could find: tigers, bears, wolves, all King Lion’s subjects were there. As to Master Fox, he had run back to notify Brother Rabbit that the enemies were coming.
Miss Leona was with the army, and her father used to tell her all the time : “l am glad that you came; Brother Rabbit will have to pay for all his tricks; you must treat him as he treated you.”
King Lion was at the head of the army, and coming near the bridge he saw Master Fox, who was lying in the road with his leg broken.
“Oh ! oh !” said Lion, “this is the way they treated you! They shall have to pay for all that.”
“Make haste,” said Master Fox; “don’t wait till they come to attack you; pass the bridge immediately; that will throw them in confusion.”
The army went on. They all ran to pass over the bridge, King Lion at the head, with his daughter. As soon as they arrived at the place where the snare was, and they saw the cows and their calves, King Lion and his troops killed them and began to eat them. Then they quarreled among themselves and began to fight. They scattered about the ashes, the red pepper, and the tobacco snuff, and were completely blinded. They fought terribly; they massacred one another; then those that were left drank the water in the tubs. Two hours later they were all sound asleep.
The elephants, which had remained prudently at a distance, hearing no more noise, came to the bridge. They killed all the animals that were left in the Lion’s army, and threw their bodies in the river. They flayed King Lion; they took his skin and sewed Donkey into it; then they tied some straw, covered with pitch, to Donkey’s tail; they put fire to the straw, and they let him go to announce the news in Lion’s country.
When Donkey passed on the bridge, he was galloping so fast that one might have thought that it was thunder that was rolling on the bridge, as if there were more than one hundred cart-loads. When donkey arrived in his country his tail was entirely consumed by the fire, but he said that he had lost it in a battle. Although he announced very sad news, no one could help laughing at him: he was so funny without his tail, and so proud of his glorious wound.
As soon as all was over at the bridge, Brother Rabbit went to get Master Fox, and took him to the king of the elephants. He presented him to his majesty, and told him that Master Fox was his good friend, and if the king wanted to accept his services, they would both be his very faithful subjects. The king of elephants said to them: ” I believe that you are two cunning rascals, and that in my war with King Lion, Master Fox had been on both sides of the fence; but all right, he may remain here, if he wants. As for you, Brother Rabbit, I want you to get married. Here is Miss White Rabbit; she is rich, and will be a good match for you. Tomorrow I want to dance at the wedding.”
The next day all the people assembled, and celebrated with great splendor the marriage of Brother Rabbit with Miss White Rabbit. Master Fox was the first groomsman. Three weeks after the wedding, Mrs. Sister Rabbit gave birth to two little ones; one was white and the other as black as soot. Brother Rabbit was not pleased, and he went to see the king of elephants.
” Oh, you know nothing” said the king; “you are married before the church, and I will not grant you a divorce. Besides, I must tell you that in the family of Mrs. Sister Rabbit it happens very often that the little ones are black. It is when the ladies are afraid in a dark night; so console yourself, and don’t be troubled.”
Brother Rabbit consented to remain with his wife until death should part them, and that is how he married after all his pranks. As I was there when all that happened, I ran away to relate it to you.
The End
Source: Louisiana Folk-tales: In French Dialect and English Translation by Alcée Fortier
“Black and white rabbits Kōno” is marked with CC0 1.0.
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