Watership Down Page 17

  Even before Holly had finished his story, Hazel had fallen to sniffing at his wounded ear. He had not previously been able to get a good look at it, but now that he did, he realized that terror and fatigue had probably not been the principal causes of Holly's collapse. He was badly wounded-worse than Buckthorn. He must have lost a lot of blood. His ear was in ribbons and there was any amount of dirt in it. Hazel felt annoyed with Dandelion. As several of the rabbits began to silflay, attracted by the mild June night and the full moon, he asked Blackberry to wait. Silver, who had been about to leave by the other run, returned and joined them.

  "Dandelion and the other two seem to have cheered you up, all right," said Hazel to Holly. "It's a pity they didn't clean you up as well. That dirt's dangerous."

  "Well, you see-" began Bluebell, who had remained beside Holly.

  "Don't make a joke," said Hazel. "You seem to think-"

  "I wasn't going to," said Bluebell. "I was only going to say that I wanted to clean the captain's ear, but it's too tender to be touched."

  "He's quite right," said Holly. "I'm afraid I made them neglect it, but do as you think best, Hazel, I'm feeling much better now."

  Hazel began on the ear himself. The blood had caked black and the task needed patience. After a while the long, jagged wounds bled again as they slowly became clean. Silver took over. Holly, bearing it as well as he could, growled and scuffled, and Silver cast about for something to occupy his attention.

  "Hazel," he asked, "what was this idea you had-about the mouse? You said you'd explain it later. How about trying it out on us now?"

  "Well," said Hazel, "the idea is simply that in our situation we can't afford to waste anything that might do us good. We're in a strange place we don't know much about and we need friends. Now, elil can't do us good, obviously, but there are many creatures that aren't elil-birds, mice, yonil and so on. Rabbits don't usually have much to do with them, but their enemies are our enemies, for the most part. I think we ought to do all we can to make these creatures friendly. It might turn out to be well worth the trouble."

  "I can't say I fancy the idea myself," said Silver, wiping Holly's blood out of his nose. "These small animals are more to be despised than relied upon, I reckon. What good can they do us? They can't dig for us, they can't get food for us, they can't fight for us. They'd say they were friendly, no doubt, as long as we were helping them; but that's where it would stop. I heard that mouse tonight-'You want 'im, 'e come. You bet he will, as long as there's any grub or warmth going, but surely we're not going to have the warren overrun with mice and-and stag beetles, are we?"

  "No, I didn't mean quite that," said Hazel. "I'm not suggesting we should go about looking for field mice and inviting them to join us. They wouldn't thank us for that, anyway. But that mouse tonight-we saved his life-"

  "You saved his life," said Blackberry.

  "Well, his life was saved. He'll remember that."

  "But how's it going to help us?" asked Bluebell.

  "To start with, he can tell us what he knows about the place-"

  "What mice know. Not what rabbits need to know."

  "Well, I admit a mouse might or might not come in handy," said Hazel. "But I'm sure a bird would, if we could only do enough for it. We can't fly, but some of them know the country for a long way round. They know a lot about the weather, too. All I'm saying is this. If anyone finds an animal or bird, that isn't an enemy, in need of help, for goodness' sake don't miss the opportunity. That would be like leaving carrots to rot in the ground."

  "What do you think?" said Silver to Blackberry.

  "I think it's a good idea, but real opportunities of the kind Hazel has in mind aren't likely to come very often."

  "I think that's about right," said Holly, wincing as Silver resumed licking. "The idea's all right as far as it goes, but it won't come to a great deal in practice."

  "I'm ready to give it a try," said Silver. "I reckon it'll be worth it, just to see Bigwig telling bedtime stories to a mole."

  "El-ahrairah did it once," said Bluebell, "and it worked. Do you remember?"

  "No," said Hazel, "I don't know that story. Let's have it."

  "Let's silflay first," said Holly. "This ear's had all I can stand for the time being."

  "Well, at least it's clean now," said Hazel. "But I'm afraid it'll never be as good as the other, you know. You'll have a ragged ear."

  "Never mind," said Holly. "I'm still one of the lucky ones."

  The full moon, well risen in a cloudless eastern sky, covered the high solitude with its light. We are not conscious of daylight as that which displaces darkness. Daylight, even when the sun is clear of clouds, seems to us simply the natural condition of the earth and air. When we think of the downs, we think of the downs in daylight, as we think of a rabbit with its fur on. Stubbs may have envisaged the skeleton inside the horse, but most of us do not: and we do not usually envisage the downs without daylight, even though the light is not a part of the down itself as the hide is part of the horse itself. We take daylight for granted. But moonlight is another matter. It is inconstant. The full moon wanes and returns again. Clouds may obscure it to an extent to which they cannot obscure daylight. Water is necessary to us, but a waterfall is not. Where it is to be found it is something extra, a beautiful ornament. We need daylight and to that extent it is utilitarian, but moonlight we do not need. When it comes, it serves no necessity. It transforms. It falls upon the banks and the grass, separating one long blade from another; turning a drift of brown, frosted leaves from a single heap to innumerable flashing fragments; or glimmering lengthways along wet twigs as though light itself were ductile. Its long beams pour, white and sharp, between the trunks of trees, their clarity fading as they recede into the powdery, misty distance of beech woods at night. In moonlight, two acres of coarse bent grass, undulant and ankle deep, tumbled and rough as a horse's mane, appear like a bay of waves, all shadowy troughs and hollows. The growth is so thick and matted that even the wind does not move it, but it is the moonlight that seems to confer stillness upon it. We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like the dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers. And its low intensity-so much lower than that of daylight-makes us conscious that it is something added to the down, to give it, for only a little time, a singular and marvelous quality that we should admire while we can, for soon it will be gone again.

  As the rabbits came up by the hole inside the beech wood, a swift gust of wind passed through the leaves, checkering and dappling the ground beneath, stealing and giving light under the branches. They listened, but beyond the rustle of the leaves there came from the open down outside no sound except the monotonous tremolo of a grasshopper warbler, far off in the grass.

  "What a moon!" said Silver. "Let's enjoy it while it's here."

  As they went over the bank they met Speedwell and Hawkbit returning.

  "Oh, Hazel," said Hawkbit, "we've been talking to another mouse. He'd heard about the kestrel this evening and was very friendly. He told us about a place just the other side of the wood where the grass has been cut short-something to do with horses, he said. 'You like a nice a grass? 'E very fine grass. So we went there. It's first-rate."

  The gallop turned out to be a good forty yards wide, mown to less than six inches. Hazel, with a delightful sense of having been proved right by events, set to work on a patch of clover. They all munched for some time in silence.

  "You're a clever chap, Hazel," said Holly at last "You and your mouse. Mind you, we'd have found the place ourselves sooner or later, but not as soon as this."

  Hazel could have pressed his chin glands for satisfaction, but he replied merely, "We shan't need to go down the hill so much, after all." Then he added, "But, Holly, you smell of blood, you know. It may be dangerous, even here. Let's go back to the wood. It's such a beautiful night that we can sit near the holes to chew pellets and Bluebell can tell us his story."

  They found Strawberry and
Buckthorn on the bank; and when everyone was comfortably chewing, with ears laid fiat, Bluebell began.

  * * *

  "Dandelion was telling me last night about Cowslip's warren and how he told the story of the King's Lettuce. That's what put me in mind of this tale, even before Hazel explained his idea. I used to hear it from my grandfather and he always said that it happened after El-ahrairah had got his people out of the marshes of Kelfazin. They went to the meadows of Fenlo and there they dug their holes. But Prince Rainbow had his eye on El-ahrairah; and he was determined to see that he didn't get up to any more of his tricks.

  "Now one evening, when El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle were sitting on a sunny bank, Prince Rainbow came through the meadows and with him was a rabbit that El-ahrairah had never seen before.

  " 'Good evening, El-ahrairah, said Prince Rainbow. 'This is a great improvement on the marshes of Kelfazin. I see all your does are busy digging holes along the bank. Have they dug a hole for you?

  " 'Yes, said El-ahrairah. 'This hole here belongs to Rabscuttle and myself. We liked the look of this bank as soon as we saw it.

  " 'A very nice bank, said Prince Rainbow. 'But I am afraid I have to tell you, El-ahrairah, that I have strict orders from Lord Frith himself not to allow you to share a hole with Rabscuttle.

  " 'Not share a hole with Rabscuttle? said El-ahrairah. 'Why ever not?

  " 'El-ahrairah, said Prince Rainbow, 'we know you and your tricks: and Rabscuttle is nearly as slippery as you are. Both of you in one hole would be altogether too much of a good thing. You would be stealing the clouds out of the sky before the moon had changed twice. No-Rabscuttle must go and look after the holes at the other end of the warren. Let me introduce you. This is Hufsa. I want you to be his friend and look after him.

  " 'Where does he come from? asked El-ahrairah. 'I certainly haven't seen him before.

  " 'He comes from another country, said Prince Rainbow, 'but he is no different from any other rabbit. I hope you will help him to settle down here. And while he is getting to know the place, I'm sure you will be glad to let him share your hole.

  "El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle felt desperately annoyed that they were not to be allowed to live together in their hole. But it was one of El-ahrairah's rules never to let anyone see when he was angry and, besides, he felt sorry for Hufsa because he supposed that he was feeling lonely and awkward, being far away from his own people. So he welcomed him and promised to help him settle down. Hufsa was perfectly friendly and seemed anxious to please everyone; and Rabscuttle moved down to the other end of the warren.

  "After a time, however, El-ahrairah began to find that something was always going wrong with his plans. One night, in the spring, when he had taken some of his people to a cornfield to eat the green shoots, they found a man with a gun walking about in the moonlight and were lucky to get away without trouble. Another time, after El-ahrairah had reconnoitered the way to a cabbage garden and scratched a hole under the fence, he arrived the next morning to find it blocked with wire, and he began to suspect that his plans were leaking out to people who were not intended to learn them.

  "One day he determined to set a trap for Hufsa, to find out whether it was he who was at the bottom of the trouble. He showed him a path across the fields and told him that it led to a lonely barn full of swedes and turnips: and he went on to say that he and Rabscuttle meant to go there the next morning. In fact El-ahrairah had no such plans and took care not to say anything about the path or the barn to anyone else. But next day, when he went cautiously along the path, he found a wire set in the grass.

  "This made El-ahrairah really angry, for any of his people might have been snared and killed. Of course he did not suppose that Hufsa was setting wires himself, or even that he had known that a wire was going to be set. But evidently Hufsa was in touch with somebody who did not stick at setting a wire. In the end, El-ahrairah decided that probably Prince Rainbow was passing on Hufsa's information to a farmer or a gamekeeper and not bothering himself about what happpened as a result. His rabbits' lives were in danger because of Hufsa-to say nothing of all the lettuces and cabbages they were missing. After this, El-ahrairah tried not to tell Hufsa anything at all. But it was difficult to prevent him from hearing things because, as you all know, rabbits are very good at keeping secrets from other animals, but no good at keeping secrets from each other. Warren life doesn't make for secrecy. He considered killing Hufsa. But he knew that if he did, Prince Rainbow would come and they would end in more trouble. He felt decidedly uneasy even about keeping things from Hufsa, because he thought that if Hufsa realized that they knew he was a spy, he would tell Prince Rainbow and Prince Rainbow would probably take him away and think of something worse.

  "El-ahrairah thought and thought. He was still thinking the next evening, when Prince Rainbow paid one of his visits to the warren.

  " 'You are quite a reformed character these days, El-ahrairah, said Prince Rainbow. 'If you are not careful, people will begin to trust you. Since I was passing by, I thought I would just stop to thank you for your kindness in looking after Hufsa. He seems quite at home with you.

  " 'Yes, he does, doesn't he? said El-ahrairah. 'We grow in beauty side by side; we fill one hole with glee. But I always say to my people, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in any-"

  " 'Well, El-ahrairah, said Prince Rainbow, interrupting him, 'I am sure I can trust you. And to prove it, I have decided that I will grow a nice crop of carrots in the field behind the hill. It is an excellent bit of ground and I am sure they will do well. Especially as no one would dream of stealing them. In fact, you can come and watch me plant them, if you like.

  " 'I will, said El-ahrairah. 'That will be delightful.

  "El-ahrairah, Rabscuttle, Hufsa and several other rabbits accompanied Prince Rainbow to the field behind the hill; and they helped him to sow it with long rows of carrot seed. It was a light, dry sort of soil-just the thing for carrots-and the whole business infuriated El-ahrairah, because he was certain that Prince Rainbow was doing it to tease him and to show that he felt sure that he had clipped his claws at last.

  " 'That will do splendidly, said Prince Rainbow when they had finished. 'Of course, I know that no one would dream of stealing my carrots. But if they did-if they did steal them, El-ahrairah-I should be very angry indeed. If King Darzin stole them, for instance, I feel sure that Lord Frith would take away his kingdom and give it to someone else.

  "El-ahrairah knew that Prince Rainbow meant that if he caught him stealing the carrots he would either kill him or else banish him and put some other rabbit over his people: and the thought that the other rabbit would probably be Hufsa made him grind his teeth. But he said, 'Of course, of course. Very right and proper. And Prince Rainbow went away.

  "One night, in the second moon after the planting, El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle went to look at the carrots. No one had thinned them out and the tops were thick and green. El-ahrairah judged that most of the roots would be a little thinner than a forepaw. And it was while he was looking at them in the moonlight that his plan came to him. He had become so cautious about Hufsa-and indeed no one ever knew where Hufsa would be next-that on the way back he and Rabscuttle made for a hole in a lonely bank and went down it to talk together. And there El-ahrairah promised Rabscuttle not only that he would steal Prince Rainbow's carrots, but also that between them they would see the back of Hufsa into the bargain. They came out of the hole and Rabscuttle went to the farm to steal some seed corn. El-ahrairah spent the rest of the night gathering slugs; and a nasty business it was.

  "The next evening El-ahrairah went out early and after a little while found Yona the hedgehog pottering along the hedge.

  " 'Yona, he said, "would you like a whole lot of nice, fat slugs?

  " 'Yes, I would, El-ahrairah, said Yona, 'but they're not so easily found. You'd know that if you were a hedgehog.

  " 'Well, here are some nice ones, said El-ahrairah, 'and you can have them all. But I can give you a great many more if you
will do what I say and ask no questions. Can you sing?

  " 'Sing, El-ahrairah? No hedgehog can sing.

  " 'Good, said El-ahrairah. 'Excellent. But you will have to try if you want those slugs. Ah! There is an old, empty box, I see, that the farmer has left in the ditch. Better and better. Now you listen to me.

  "Meanwhile, in the wood, Rabscuttle was talking to Hawock the pheasant.

  " 'Hawock, he said, 'can you swim?

  " 'I never go near water if I can avoid it, Rabscuttle, said Hawock. 'I dislike it very much. But I suppose if I had to, I could make shift to keep afloat for a little while.

  " 'Splendid, said Rabscuttle. 'Now attend. I have a whole lot of corn-and you know how scarce it is at this time of year-and you can have it all, if only you will do a little swimming in the pond on the edge of the wood. Just let me explain as we go down there. And off they went through the wood.

  "Fu Inlé, El-ahrairah strolled into his hole and found Hufsa chewing pellets. 'Ah, Hufsa, you're here, he said. 'That's fine. I can't trust anyone else, but you'll come with me, won't you? Just you and I-no one else must know.

  " 'Why, what's to be done, El-ahrairah? asked Hufsa.

  " 'I've been looking at those carrots of Prince Rainbow's, replied El-ahrairah. 'I can't stand it any longer. They're the best I've ever seen. I'm determined to steal them-or most of them, anyway. Of course, if I took a lot of rabbits on an expedition of this kind we'd soon be in trouble. Things would leak out and Prince Rainbow would be sure to get to hear. But if you and I go alone, no one will ever know who did it.