Watership Down (Watership Down 1)

'El-ahrairah was silent. But he thought, "Perhaps I can trick him into taking my life. He would keep a promise, as Prince Rainbow kept his."

' "You are my guest, El-ahrairah," said the Black Rabbit. "Stay in my burrow as long as you wish. You may sleep here. And you may eat here, and they are few indeed who can do as much. Let him eat," he said to the Owsla.

' "We will not eat, my lord," said El-ahrairah, for he knew that if he ate the food which they gave him in that burrow, his secret thoughts would become plain and there would be an end of tricks.

' "Then at least we must entertain you,' said the Black Rabbit. 'You must feel at home, El-ahrairah, and make yourself comfortable. Come, let us play bob-stones."*

' "Very well," said El-ahrairah, "and if I win, my lord, perhaps you will be so good as to accept my life in return for my people's safety.'

' "I will," said the Black Rabbit. "But if I win, El-ahrairah, you shall give me both your tail and your whiskers."

'The stones were brought and El-ahrairah sat down in the cold and the echoes to play against the Black Rabbit of Inle. Now as you may suppose, El-ahrairah knew how to play bob-stones. He could play as well as any rabbit that ever covered a cast. But there - in that dreadful place, with the Black Rabbit's eyes upon him and the Owsla who made no sound - try as he would, his wits deserted him and even before he cast, he felt that the Black Rabbit knew what was down. The Black Rabbit showed never the least haste. He played as the snow falls, without sound or change, until at last El-ahrairah's spirit failed him and he knew that he could not win.

' "You can pay your stakes to the Owsla, El-ahrairah," said the Black Rabbit, "and they will show you a burrow to sleep in. I shall return tomorrow and if you are still here I will see you. But you are free to leave whenever you wish."

'Then the Owsla took El-ahrairah away and cut off his tail and pulled out his whiskers: and when he came to himself, he was alone with Rabscuttle in a hollow stone burrow, with an opening to the mountain outside.

' "Oh, master," said Rabscuttle, "what will you do now? For Frith's sake let us go away. I can feel for both of us in the dark."

' "Certainly not," said El-ahrairah. He still hoped to get what he wanted from the Black Rabbit somehow and he felt sure that they had been put into this burrow so that they would be tempted to steal away. "Certainly not. I can make do very well with some willow-herb and clematis. Go out and get some, Rabscuttle, but make sure you come back before tomorrow evening. You had better try to bring some food, too, if you can."

'Rabscuttle went out as he was told and El-ahrairah was left alone. He slept very little, partly for the pain and partly for the fear that never left him; but chiefly because he was still searching for some trick that would serve his turn. The next day Rabscuttle returned with some pieces of turnip and after El-ahrairah had eaten them, Rabscuttle helped him to patch himself up with a

grey tail and whiskers, made from the winter drift of clematis and ragwort. In the evening he went to meet the Black Rabbit as though nothing had happened.

' "Well, El-ahrairah," said the Black Rabbit - and he did not wrinkle his nose up and down when he sniffed, but thrust it forward, as a dog does - "my burrow cannot be what you are used to: but perhaps you have done your best to make yourself comfortable?"

' "I have, my lord," said El-ahrairah. "I am glad that you allow me to stay."

' "Perhaps we will not play bob-stones tonight," said the Black Rabbit. "You must understand, El-ahrairah, that I have no wish to make you suffer. I am not one of the Thousand. I repeat, you may stay or leave as you please. But if you are going to remain, perhaps you would care to hear a story; and to tell one yourself, if you like."

' "Certainly, my lord," said El-ahrairah, "And if I can tell a story as good as yours, perhaps you will accept my life and grant the safety of my people."

' "I will," said the Black Rabbit. "But if not, El-ahrairah, you will have to forfeit your ears." He waited to see whether El-ahrairah would refuse the wager, but he did not.

'Then the Black Rabbit told such a tale of fear and darkness as froze the hearts of Rabscuttle and El-ahrairah where they crouched on the rock, for they knew that every word was true. Their wits turned. They seemed to be plunged in icy clouds that numbed their senses; and the Black Rabbit's story crept into their hearts like a worm into a nut, leaving them shrivelled and empty. When at last that terrible story was ended, El-ahrairah tried to speak. But he could not collect his thoughts and he stammered and ran about the floor, like a mouse when the hawk glides low. The Black Rabbit waited silently, with no sign of impatience. At last it was clear that there would be no story from El-ahrairah, and the Owsla took him and put him into a deep sleep: and when he woke, his ears were gone and only Rabscuttle was beside him in the stone burrow, crying like a kitten.

' "Oh, master," said Rabscuttle, "what good can this suffering bring? For the sake of Lord Frith and the green grass, let me take you home."

' "Nonsense," said El-ahrairah. "Go out and get me two good, big dock-leaves. They will do very well for ears."

' "They will wither, master," said Rabscuttle, "and I am withered now."

' "They will last long enough," said El-ahrairah grimly, "for what I have to do. But I cannot find the way."

'When Rabscuttle was gone, El-ahrairah forced himself to think clearly. The Black Rabbit would not accept his life. Also, it was plain that he himself would never be able to win any sort of wager against him: he might as well try to run a race across a sheet of ice. But if the Black Rabbit did not hate him, why did he inflict these sufferings upon him? To destroy his courage and make him give up and go away. But why not simply send him away? And why wait, before hurting him, till he himself proposed a wager and lost it? The answer came to him suddenly. These shadows had no power either to send him away or to hurt him, except with his own consent. They would not help him, no. They would seek possession of his will and break it if they could. But supposing that he could find among them something that would save his people, could they stop him from taking it away?

'When Rabscuttle came back, he helped El-ahrairah to disguise his horrible, maimed head with two dock-leaves in place of ears and after a while they slept. But El-ahrairah kept dreaming of his starving rabbits waiting in the runs to push back King Darzin's soldiers and placing all their hopes on him: and at last he woke, cold and cramped, and wandered out into the runs of the stone warren. As he limped along, trailing the dock-leaves on either side of his head - for he could not raise or move them like the ears he had lost - he came to a place from which several narrow runs led down deeper into the ground: and here he found two of the ghastly, shadowy Owsla moving about some dark business of their own. They turned and stared, to make him afraid, but El-ahrairah was past being afraid and he stared back at them, wondering what they had in mind to persuade him to lose.

' "Turn back, El-ahrairah," said one at last. "You have no business here, in the pit. You are alive; and have suffered much already."

' "Not as much as my people," replied El-ahrairah.

' "There is enough suffering here for a thousand warrens," said the shadow. "Do not be stubborn, El-ahrairah. In these holes lie all the plagues and diseases that come to rabbits - fever and mange and the sickness of the bowels. And here, too, in this nearest hole, lies the white blindness, that sends creatures hobbling out to die in the fields, where even the elil will not touch their rotting bodies. This is our task, to see that all these are ready for the use of Inle-rah. For what is, is what must be."

'Then El-ahrairah knew that he must give himself no time to think. He pretended to go back, but suddenly turned, rushed upon the shadows and plunged into the nearest hole faster than a raindrop into the ground. And there he lay, while the shadows flickered and gibbered about the entrance, for they had no power to move him, except by fear. After a time they went away and El-ahrairah was left alone, wondering whether he would be able to reach King Darzin's army in time without the use of whiskers or ears.

'At last, when he was sure that he must have stayed in the hole long enough to be infected, El-ahrairah came out and began to make his way back along the run. He did not know how soon the disease would appear or how long he would take to die, but plainly he ought to return as quickly as he could - if possible, before there was any sign of illness on him. Without going near Rabscuttle, he must tell him to hurry ahead, reach the rabbits in the warren and warn them to block all the holes and stay inside until King Darzin's army was destroyed.