The Hare Who Defeated the Whale and the Elephant

One evening, the hare went to the seashore. He began sniffing the seaweed and happily nibbled on the tender green leaves. Suddenly, he noticed an elephant and a whale nearby, engaged in a serious conversation. The hare hid behind a large rock and listened to their discussion.

"My brother, the elephant," the whale said importantly, "you are the largest and strongest of all the land animals, and I am the largest and strongest in the sea. Why don’t we join forces and become the rulers of all the creatures of land and sea? Then no one would dare attack us or defy our will."

The elephant liked the whale’s words very much. He imagined himself as a mighty ruler, feared by all, whose every wish would be obeyed.
"That’s a wonderful idea," he said. "Let it be so."

The elephant and the whale went their separate ways, and the hare was left alone, deep in thought. "These two want to seize power over all the animals by force. But this must not happen. I will prove that they are not as strong as they think, and that we hares will never submit to them."

Lost in thought, the hare returned to the forest. He devised a plan to disrupt the alliance of the two giants and preserve freedom for all the animals. Gathering his friends, the hare told them what he had heard and asked for their help. He requested a strong, long rope, promising that everyone would see what he would do.

The hares wove the rope, trusting their companion and leaving everything to his discretion.

The hare then went to the whale and said humbly and politely,
"O mighty ruler, the strongest and most powerful of all sea creatures! Would you be so kind as to help a weakling?"

"Speak, little and weak one," the whale said with dignity.
"My cow is stuck in the clay, and I cannot pull her out—I am too small and weak. Would you allow me to tie a rope to your strong tail?"

The whale thought for a moment and replied,
"Very well. Tie it."
The hare tied one end of the rope to the whale’s tail and said,
"Now, my lord, I will go and tie the other end to the cow’s neck. When you hear my signal, pull with all your might."

Then the hare ran to the elephant and stood before him, bowing his head respectfully. He told the elephant the same story about the cow and asked hopefully,
"Perhaps you would be so kind as to help a weakling standing before you and save his cow? After all, I have nothing else."

"What must I do, little and weak one?" the elephant asked.
"Allow me to tie the end of the rope to your strong trunk," the hare requested. "One tug from you will be enough to pull the cow out of the mire."

The elephant agreed and prepared to pull the rope at the first signal.
The hare ran off, gathered his companions, climbed a high hill located halfway between the elephant and the whale, and blew a horn.

Then he and his friends witnessed an extraordinary sight: the elephant began pulling in one direction, and the whale in the other. The rope tightened, and neither could move. Both strong creatures grew uneasy.
"What a heavy cow," grumbled the elephant. "It feels like I’m uprooting a tree."
He leaned his back against the trunk of a large palm tree and, letting out a mighty roar, pulled even harder. Meanwhile, the whale, feeling the tension, thought, "That cursed cow must be trying to sink into the ground. But she won’t escape me."

He dove deeper into the water and gave the rope a sharp tug.
Each of them stubbornly pulled in their own direction, while the hares laughed merrily, watching the giants grow breathless with anger and fury.

But then the elephant wrapped the rope around his trunk several times, gave it a powerful yank, and pulled the whale out of the water. The whale strained and dove back into the depths.
This happened many times, and with each attempt, their efforts grew fiercer. Finally, they found themselves on the shore, face to face. Each stared at the other in disbelief.

"So it was you pulling me?" roared the elephant.
The whale shouted indignantly,
"You think you’re stronger than me? Well, I’ll show you that there are those stronger than you."
Enraged, they began pulling the rope with renewed fury. But it didn’t last long. Suddenly, the hares heard a terrible crack—the rope snapped in two. The whale splashed back into the sea like a large stone falling from a height, and the elephant tumbled like a ball kicked by a foot. They parted ways, filled with anger and hatred for each other, feeling shame and embarrassment. From that day on, they never met again.

And the hares took great delight in witnessing this extraordinary spectacle—the humiliating defeat of two giants who had sought to dominate all the animals.

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The Hare Who Defeated the Whale and the Elephant

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