FOR THE LITTLE ONES

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 56, 7 March 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

FOR THE LITTLE ONES

4 CUNNY RABBIT'S RESCUE.

HOW HE SAVED THE STOLEN FAWN. My Dear Little Friends, — > > * Here is a little story for you all to read before going to bed. In a great state of woe a doe came to Cunny Rabbit and told how the terrible lion had stolen away her fawn and would not give it back to her. In vain had she appealed to the other beasts, for the lion was feared by all and none would help the poor doe recover her child. Although Cunny Rabbit was the tiniest creature of the forest, he was most certainly the shrewdest. When he heard the doe's appeal he immediately promised to help her. "Tell all the animals to meet in council to-morrow at my burrow," he said, then scampered off home. Once there, Cunny Rabbit set to work and dug a long underground tunnel from bis home to a distant bush, which effectively concealed the opening. Next day all the animals assembled outside Cunny Rabbit's burrow, aild before the council the question of the doe's stolen fawn was brought up for discussion. < No animal dared to oppose the lion, who was watching them with angry eyes, and they decided that the fawn was truly the child of the lion. But Cunny Rabbit peeped out of his burrow just then and in a loud voice cried, "Nonsense! The fawn belongs to the doe. The lion is a thief !" In a great rage the lion sprang at Cunny Rabbit, who immediately disappeared down his burrow. 111 starve him out, ' roared lion, and sat down by the burrow to wait until Cunny Rabbit appeared. But of course the shrewd little creature escaped by his underground passage, and so the lion waited and waited in vain. As the days went by the lion became thin and wasted for watit of food, but he was determined to starve out Cunny Rabbit, and so continued to guard the burrow until at last he died of starvation. The doe then recovered her fawn f^l/ and continued to live in peace, thanks CV>Oa(LA to the wiles vof Cunny Rabbit. Don't i you think he was clever? I