Mr. Rabbit had a reputation for being clever, mischievous and difficult to catch. Although he often found himself in trouble, he usually managed to escape through quick thinking and carefully planned tricks. Mr. Fox knew this well, especially after discovering that someone had been stealing from his garden.
One season, Mr. Fox decided to plant a peanut patch. He wasted no time preparing the ground and planting his crop. Mr. Rabbit watched these activities with great interest. He knew that the peanuts would make a fine meal once they ripened, and he began looking forward to helping himself to them.
As the plants grew, Mr. Rabbit secretly visited the garden and dug among the vines. Each time Mr. Fox inspected his crop, he found signs that someone had been stealing his peanuts. The damage made him increasingly angry, but Mr. Rabbit covered his tracks so cleverly that Fox could not catch him.
Mr. Fox eventually decided that watching the garden would not be enough. He would have to set a trap.
Mr. Fox Sets a Trap
One day, Mr. Fox examined the fence surrounding his peanut patch. He noticed a small opening where the rails had become smooth from repeated rubbing. He realised that this was probably the place Mr. Rabbit used to enter the garden.
Mr. Fox chose the opening as the perfect position for his trap.
He bent down a young hickory tree growing near the corner of the fence. He tied one end of a plough-line to the top of the bent sapling and made a loop at the other end. He then secured the arrangement with a trigger near the opening in the fence.
The trap was ready.
The following morning, Mr. Rabbit approached the garden as usual. He slipped towards the opening and crawled through the gap in the fence. Unfortunately, the loop caught him behind his front legs.
The bent sapling sprang upwards, lifting him into the air. In an instant, Mr. Rabbit found himself hanging between the ground and the sky.
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He struggled to understand what had happened. He feared that he might fall, yet he also feared what would happen if he remained suspended there. He knew that Mr. Fox would soon discover him, and he needed to think of an excuse before his enemy arrived.
Mr. Rabbit Tricks Mr. Bear
While Mr. Rabbit was trying to invent a convincing explanation, he heard heavy footsteps approaching along the road.
It was Mr. Bear, who was returning from a visit to a bee tree. As Bear lumbered along, Rabbit called out to greet him.
Mr. Bear looked around and was surprised to see Rabbit dangling from the young tree.
He asked how Rabbit was doing that morning and wanted to know why he was hanging so high above the ground.
Mr. Rabbit answered calmly that he was earning money. He claimed that Mr. Fox had employed him to keep crows away from the peanut patch.
According to Rabbit, the arrangement paid a dollar a minute. He explained that he made an excellent scarecrow because his position above the ground allowed him to frighten away the birds.
Mr. Bear was impressed. He had a large family of children to care for and liked the sound of earning money so quickly. Rabbit encouraged him to take the job, praising the opportunity and explaining that he could show him how to do it.
Mr. Bear agreed.
Rabbit then demonstrated how to bend the sapling and arrange the line. Before long, Bear was hanging in the air in Rabbit’s place.
Mr. Rabbit had escaped from the trap without having to free himself. He had simply persuaded another animal to take his position.
Mr. Fox Finds an Unexpected Thief
As soon as Mr. Bear was safely suspended, Mr. Rabbit hurried to Mr. Fox’s house.
He called loudly for Fox to come outside. He announced that he had discovered the animal responsible for stealing the peanuts and promised to show him the culprit.
Mr. Fox was eager to see the thief. He picked up his walking stick, and the two hurried towards the garden.
When they arrived, they found Mr. Bear hanging from the sapling.
Mr. Fox immediately assumed that he had caught the animal who had been stealing his crop. He approached Bear angrily, declaring that the thief had finally been caught.
Mr. Bear tried to explain that he had only taken over a job that Mr. Rabbit had offered him. However, Rabbit would not allow him to tell his side of the story.
Instead, Rabbit encouraged Fox to strike Bear in the mouth. Fox raised his walking stick and hit him. Each time Bear attempted to explain himself, Fox struck him again.
The poor bear could hardly make his case while Fox and Rabbit continued to treat him as the guilty thief.
Mr. Rabbit, meanwhile, had no intention of remaining nearby. He knew that Bear would eventually realise who had deceived him, and he expected the angry animal to come looking for him.
While Fox was occupied with Bear, Rabbit quietly slipped away.
Mr. Rabbit Escapes Once More
Mr. Rabbit knew that Mr. Bear would pursue him as soon as he was released. He therefore looked for somewhere to hide.
He found a muddy hole and climbed inside, leaving only his eyes visible above the surface. From that position, he could watch the road without revealing himself.
Before long, Mr. Bear came lumbering along. He was furious and determined to find the rabbit who had tricked him into taking the place in the trap.
When Bear reached the muddy hole, he noticed what appeared to be a frog. Thinking it was an ordinary frog, he greeted it and asked whether it had seen Mr. Rabbit passing by.
The creature answered that Rabbit had just gone down the road.
Mr. Bear immediately hurried away in the direction indicated.
Only after Bear had disappeared did Mr. Rabbit climb out of the mud. He stood in the sunshine to dry himself and then returned home to his family, having escaped yet another dangerous situation.
The little boy listening to Uncle Remus wanted to know whether Mr. Bear had eventually caught Mr. Rabbit. But Uncle Remus did not continue the discussion. Instead, he told the child to get up and stop struggling to keep his eyes open.
And so the story ended with Mr. Rabbit safe at home, while Mr. Bear was left chasing a trickster who had once again proved too clever to catch.
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Moral Lesson
Cleverness can help someone escape difficult situations, but dishonesty often shifts the consequences onto someone else. Mr. Rabbit saved himself by deceiving Mr. Bear, who suffered for trusting him. The story reminds us that quick thinking should be guided by fairness and consideration for others.
Knowledge Check
1. What crop did Mr. Fox plant?
Mr. Fox planted a peanut patch.
2. Why did Mr. Fox set a trap?
He discovered that someone had been stealing peanuts from his garden and wanted to catch the thief.
3. How was Mr. Rabbit caught?
A loop in Mr. Fox’s trap caught him behind his front legs and lifted him into the air when the sapling sprang upwards.
4. How did Mr. Rabbit persuade Mr. Bear to take his place?
He claimed that he was earning a dollar a minute by keeping crows away from Mr. Fox’s garden and persuaded Bear to take over the job.
5. Why did Mr. Fox beat Mr. Bear?
Mr. Fox believed Bear was the animal stealing his peanuts, especially after Mr. Rabbit presented him as the culprit.
6. How did Mr. Rabbit escape from Mr. Bear?
He hid in a muddy hole, leaving only his eyes visible, and told Bear that the rabbit had gone down the road.
Source
Adapted from “Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear,” Chapter XXIII of Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1881).
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