There was once a woman and her daughter who lived in a
pretty garden with cabbages. And a little hare came into it,
and during the winter time ate all the cabbages. Then says the
mother to the daughter, go into the garden, and chase the hare away.
The girl says to the little hare, sh-sh, hare, you will be eating
all our cabbages. Says the hare, come, maiden, and seat yourself
on my little hare's tail, and come with me into my
little hare's hut. The girl will not do it.
Next day the hare
comes again and eats the cabbages, then says the mother to the
daughter, go into the garden, and drive the hare away. The girl
says to the hare, sh-sh, little hare, you will be eating all the
cabbages. The little hare says, maiden, seat yourself on my
little hare's tail, and come with me into my little hare's hut.
The maiden refuses.
The third day the hare comes again, and eats
the cabbages. On this the mother says to the daughter, go into
the garden, and hunt the hare away. Says the maiden, sh-sh, little
hare, you will be eating all our cabbages. Says the little
hare, come, maiden, seat yourself on my little hare's tail,
and come with me into my little hare's hut.
The girl seats
herself on the little hare's tail, and then the hare takes her
far away to his little hut, and says, now cook green cabbage and
millet-seed, and I will invite the wedding-guests. Then all
the wedding-guests assembled. Who were the wedding-guests?
That I can tell you as another told it to me. They were all
hares, and the crow was there as parson to marry the bride
and bridegroom, and the fox as clerk, and the altar was under
the rainbow.
The girl, however, was sad, for she was all alone. The little hare
comes and says, open the doors, open the doors, the wedding-guests
are merry. The bride says nothing, but weeps. The little
hare goes away. The little hare comes back and says, take off
the lid, take off the lid, the wedding-guests are hungry. The
bride again says nothing, and weeps. The little hare goes away.
The little hare comes back and says, take off the lid, take off
the lid, the wedding-guests are waiting. Then the bride says
nothing, and the hare goes away, but she dresses a straw-doll
in her clothes, and gives her a spoon to stir with, and sets
her by the pan with the millet-seed, and goes back to her
mother. The little hare comes once more and says, take off
the lid, take off the lid, and gets up, and strikes the doll
on the head so that her cap falls off.
Then the little hare sees that it is not his bride, and goes
away and is sorrowful.
