Watership Down (Watership Down 1)

It came from the hedge along the side of the field. Hazel turned towards the sound and in a few moments made out, under a clump of hemlock, the hunched shape of a rabbit. He approached it and said, 'Who are you?' but there was no reply. As he hesitated, he heard a movement behind him.

'I'm here, Hazel,' said Dandelion, in a kind of choking gasp.

Together they went closer. The figure did not move as they came up. In the faint starlight they both saw a rabbit as real as themselves: a rabbit in the last stages of exhaustion, its back legs trailing behind its flattened rump as though paralysed: a rabbit that stared, white-eyed, from one side to the other, seeing nothing, yet finding no respite from its fear, and then fell to licking wretchedly at one ripped and bloody ear that drooped across its face: a rabbit that suddenly cried and wailed as though entreating the Thousand to come from every quarter to rid it of a misery too terrible to be borne.

It was Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla.

20. A Honeycomb and a Mouse

His face was that of one who has undergone a long journey.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

In the Sandleford warren, Holly had been a rabbit of consequence. He was greatly relied upon by the Threarah and had more than once carried out difficult orders with a good deal of courage. During the early spring, when a fox had moved into a neighbouring copse, Holly, with two or three volunteers, had kept it steadily under observation for several days and reported all its movements, until one evening it left as suddenly as it had come. Although he had decided on his own initiative to arrest Bigwig, he had not the reputation of being vindictive. He was, rather, a stander of no nonsense who knew when duty was done and did it himself. Sound, unassuming, conscientious, a bit lacking in the rabbit sense of mischief, he was something of the born second-in-command. There could have been no question of trying to persuade him to leave the warren with Hazel and Fiver. To find him under Watership Down at all, therefore, was astonishing enough. But to find him in such a condition was all but incredible.

In the first moments after they had recognized the poor creature under the hemlock, Hazel and Dandelion felt completely stupefied, as though they had come upon a squirrel underground or a stream that flowed uphill. They could not trust their senses. The voice in the dark had proved not to be supernatural, but the reality was frightening enough. How could Captain Holly be here, at the foot of the down? And what could have reduced him - of all rabbits - to this state?

Hazel pulled himself together. Whatever the explanation might be, the immediate need was to take first things first. They were in open country, at night, away from any refuge but an overgrown ditch, with a rabbit who smelt of blood, was crying uncontrollably and looked as though he could not move. There might very well be a stoat on his trail at this moment. If they were going to help him they had better be quick.

'Go and tell Bigwig who it is,' he said to Dandelion, 'and come back with him. Send Speedwell up the hill to the others and tell him to make it clear that no one is to come down. They couldn't help and it would only add to the risk.'

Dandelion had no sooner gone than Hazel became aware that something else was moving in the hedge. But he had no time to wonder what it might be, for almost immediately another rabbit appeared and limped to where Holly was lying.

'You must help us if you can,' he said to Hazel. 'We've had a very bad time and my master's ill. Can we get underground here?'

Hazel recognized him as one of the rabbits who had come to arrest Bigwig, but he did not know his name.

'Why did you stay in the hedge and leave him to crawl about in the open?' he asked.

'I ran away when I heard you coming,' replied the other rabbit. 'I couldn't get the captain to move. I thought you were elil and there was no point in staying to be killed. I don't think I could fight a field-mouse.'

'Do you know me?' said Hazel. But before the other could answer, Dandelion and Bigwig came out of the darkness. Bigwig stared at Holly for a moment and then crouched before him and touched noses.

'Holly, this is Thlayli,' he said. 'You were calling me.'

Holly did not answer, but only stared fixedly back at him. Bigwig looked up. 'Who's that who came with him?' he said. 'Oh, it's you, Bluebell. How many more of you?'

'No more,' said Bluebell. He was about to go on when Holly spoke.

'Thlayli,' he said. 'So we have found you.'

He sat up with difficulty and looked round at them.

'You're Hazel, aren't you?' he asked. 'And that's - oh, I should know, but I'm in very poor shape, I'm afraid.'

'It's Dandelion,' said Hazel. 'Listen - I can see that you're exhausted, but we can't stay here. We're in danger. Can you come with us to our holes?'

'Captain,' said Bluebell, 'do you know what the first blade of grass said to the second blade of grass?'

Hazel looked at him sharply, but Holly replied, 'Well?'

'It said, "Look, there's a rabbit! We're in danger!" '

'This is no time -' began Hazel.

'Don't silence him,' said Holly. 'We wouldn't be here at all without his blue-tit's chatter. Yes, I can go now. Is it far?'

'Not too far,' said Hazel, thinking it all too likely that Holly would never get there.