Bunnies

Two little hares sat in a small grove under a birch tree, basking in the warm sun and chatting.

And the grove was so lovely!.. The flies buzzed, chasing each other, their wings tinkling as if laughing. Over there, a thrush whistled, teasing a boy named Filip:

— Pyulip! Pyulip!

And Filip wandered through the heather with a basket, keeping an eye out for mushrooms.

Further away, a cuckoo called.

It was so bright, warm, and cheerful!

But the hares were not cheerful; their conversation was a sad one.

— Oh, how bitter our fate is! — said one hare. — Every day we must fear, every minute we tremble, listening to see if our enemy is near.

— And how many enemies we have! Everyone wrongs us, poor hares! People wrong us, animals wrong us; even the birds of prey — kites, owls, eagle owls — they all torment us, the hares.

— And how can we escape from our wicked enemies? Where can we seek protection? Our only hope is in our legs: if they carry us away from trouble — we’re lucky; if they don’t — our fur is lost!

And the hares began to weep bitterly. They cried and wiped their tears with their paws.

— How can we live in this world? — said the second hare. — No one fears us — absolutely no one!.. Should we just go and throw ourselves into the water?

The poor hares cried and grieved, and then they went to the lake to drown themselves in their sorrow.

They came to the lake, stopped, and said goodbye to each other. They approached the very edge to throw themselves into the water, when suddenly they saw — plop! — a frog jumped onto a hummock. The frog saw the hares and got scared.

— Aha, — said one hare, — it turns out there are creatures in this world who are afraid of us. It seems their life is even harder than ours.

The hares glanced at each other and ran back to the grove.

More fairy tales

• The Impolite Son
• How the Priests Were Cured
• The Husband and the Wife
• Son of the widow
• How Ivan Outsmarted the Devils