The Hare and the Falcon

Once there was a Hare living in his form. He had been passing his days unhurriedly without fleeing from predators when one afternoon, he heard the news that a Falcon was going to settle nearby. Frightened by the thought that his life was soon about to end, the Hare stayed up all night working his way to build a rock wall enclosing his home. He arranged the stones in neat order, carefully ensuring that there were no holes too big that the Falcon would get through. He ventured out to search for blackberry bushes, in the hope that the prickles would scare the Falcon away, and slipped some of them through the rocks on his wall and used the remaining as the roof. He left an opening small enough for him to enter, and when he was done and had settled inside, he closed the gap with his last shrub of blackberry and went to sleep.

The following morning, when the Falcon decided to hunt, he flew down to the Hare’s home and tried forcing his way through the fortified wall, but only ended up damaging his wings.

“You cannot get in here,” said the Hare. “You will only hurt yourself.”

“You have built the wall, all right,” replied the Falcon, “but you must leave soon and then I will catch you.”

The Hare left out a chortle before speaking.

“No, no, I will stay where I am and protect myself from your teeth until you find a new home.”

The Falcon concluded that it must have been wise to wait for the chance to come, but he quickly realized it was a mistake, for the Hare did not move till it was late in the evening and the Falcon had not yet had his breakfast. At last, the Falcon gave up. He told the Hare that he would move away from there and vowed never to return. But the Hare believed the Falcon was playing tricks on him to entice him to get out, so he waited and waited, day after day, until eventually, his food was no more and he died alone in his home.