THE HARE THAT RAN AWAY

And it came to pass that the Buddha¹ (to be) was born again as a Lion. Just as he had helped his fellow-men, he now began to help his fellow-animals, and there was a great deal to be done. For instance, there was a little nervous Hare who was always afraid that something dreadful was going to happen to her. She was always saying: “Suppose the Earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?” And she said this so often that at last she thought it really was about to happen. One day, when she had been saying over and over again, “Suppose the Earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?” she heard a slight noise: it really was only a heavy fruit which had fallen upon a rustling² leaf, but the little Hare was so nervous she was ready to believe anything, and she said in a frightened tone: “The Earth is falling in.” She ran away as fast as she could go, and presently she met an old brother Hare, who said: “Where are you running to, Mistress Hare?”

And the little Hare said: “I have no time to stop and tell you anything. The Earth is falling in, and I am running away.”

“The Earth is falling in, is it?” said the old brother Hare, in a tone of much astonishment³; and he repeated this to his brother hare, and he to his brother hare, and he to his brother hare, until at last there were a hundred thousand brother hares, all shouting: “The Earth is falling in.” Now presently the bigger animals began to take the cry up. First the deer, and then the sheep, and then the wild boar, and then the buffalo⁴, and then the camel, and then the tiger, and then the elephant.

Now the wise Lion heard all this noise and wondered at it. “There are no signs,” he said, “of the Earth falling in. They must have heard something.” And then he stopped them all short and said: “What is this you are saying?”

And the Elephant said: “I remarked that the Earth was falling in.”

“How do you know this?” asked the Lion.

“Why, now I come to think of it, it was the Tiger that remarked it to me.”

And the Tiger said: “I had it from the Camel,” and the Camel said: “I had it from the Buffalo.” And the buffalo from the wild boar, and the wild boar from the sheep, and the sheep from the deer, and the deer from the hares, and the Hares said: “Oh! we heard it from that little Hare.”

And the Lion said: “Little Hare, what made you say that the Earth was falling in?”

And the little Hare said: “I saw it.”

“You saw it?” said the Lion. “Where?”

“Yonder, by the tree.”

“Well,” said the Lion, “come with me and I will show you how——”

“No, no,” said the Hare, “I would not go near that tree for anything, I’m so nervous.”

“But,” said the Lion, “I am going to take you on my back.” And he took her on his back, and begged the animals to stay where they were until they returned. Then he showed the little Hare how the fruit had fallen upon the leaf, making the noise that had frightened her, and she said: “Yes, I see—the Earth is not falling in.” And the Lion said: “Shall we go back and tell the other animals?” And they went back. The little Hare stood before the animals and said: “The Earth is not falling in.” And all the animals began to repeat this to one another, and they dispersed⁵ gradually, and you heard the words more and more softly:

“The Earth is not falling in,” etc., etc., etc., until the sound died away altogether.

Note.—This story I have told in my own words, using the language I have found most effective for very young children.

1 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

2 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

3 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。