Rabbit Chases the Sun
or Rabbit Shoots the Sun Of course, I am not the Author of this story.
Credit for retelling this story goes to a Heather Resien (what an odd
name, don't ya think?) It is an old, old tale from far away places, long
ago and probably not even of this world. But I found it in my book
research and wanted it to share it with everyone. love ya all, Naddie
The Story begins... The height of summer was the time of year called
Hadotso, or the Great Heat. All day long, from a blue and cloudless sky,
the blazing sun beat down upon the earth. No rain had fallen for many
days and there was not the slightest breath of wind to cool the stifling
air. Everything was hot and dry. Even the rose-red cliffs of the canyons
and mesas seemed to take on a more brilliant color than before.

The animals drooped with misery. They were parched and hungry, for it
was too hot to hunt for food and, panting heavily, they sough what shade
they could under the rocks and bushes.

Rabbit was the unhappiest of all. Twice that day the shimmering heat had
tempted him across the baked earth towards visions of water and cool,
shady trees. He had exhausted himself in his desperate attempts to reach
them, only to find the mirages dissolve before him, receding further and
further into the distance.

Now, tired and wretched, he dragged himself into the shadow of an
overhanging rock and crouched there listlessly. His soft fur was caked
with the red dust of the desert. His head swam and his eyes ached from
the sun's glare.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" he groaned. "What have we done to
deserve such torment?" He squinted up at the sun and shouted furiously,
"Go away! You are making everything too hot!"

Sun took no notice at all and continued to pour down his fiery beams,
forcing Rabbit to retreat once more into the shade of the rock. "Sun
needs to be taught a lesson," grumbled Rabbit. "'I have a good mind to
go and fight him. If he refuses to stop shining, I will kill him!"

His determination to punish Sun made him forget his weariness and, in
spite of the oppressive heat, he set off at a run towards the eastern
edge of the world where the Sun came up each morning.

As he ran, he practiced with his bow and arrows and, to make himself
brave and strong, he fought with everything which crossed his path. He
fought with the gophers and the lizards. He hurled his throwing stick at
beetles, ants and dragonflies. He shot at the yucca and the giant
cactus. He became a very fierce rabbit indeed.

By the time he reached the edge of the world, Sun had left the sky and
was nowhere to be seen.

" The coward!" sneered Rabbit. "He is afraid to fight, but he will not
escape me so easily," and he settled to wait behind a clump of bushes.

In those days, Sun did not appear slowly as he does now. Instead he
rushed up over the horizon and into the heavens with one mighty bound.
Rabbit knew that he would have to act quickly in order to ambush him and
he fixed his eyes intently on the spot where the Sun usually appeared.

Sun, however, had heard all Rabbit's threats and had watched him
fighting. He knew that he was lying in wait among the bushes. He was not
at all afraid of this puny creature and he thought that he might have
some amusement at his expense.

He rolled some distance away from his usual place and swept up into the
sky before Rabbit knew what was happening. By the time Rabbit had
gathered his startled wits and released his bowstring, Sun was already
high above him and out of range.

Rabbit stamped and shouted with rage and vexation. Sun laughed and
laughed and shone even more fiercely than before.

Although almost dead from heat, Rabbit would not give up. Next morning
he tried again, but this time Sun came up in a different place and
evaded him once more.

Day after day the same thing happened. Sometimes Sun sprang up on
Rabbit's right, sometimes on his left and sometimes straight in front of
him, but always where Rabbit least expected him.

One morning, however, Sun grew careless. He rose more leisurely than
usual, and this time, Rabbit was ready. Swiftly he drew his bow. His
arrow whizzed through the air and buried itself deep in Sun's side.

Rabbit was jubilant! At last he had shot his enemy! Wild with joy, he
leaped up and down. He rolled on the ground, hugging himself. He turned
somersaults. He looked at Sun again - and stopped short.

Where his arrow had pierce Sun, there was a gaping wound and, from that
wound, there gushed a stream of liquid fire. Suddenly it seemed as if
the whole world had been set ablaze. Flames shot up and rushed towards
Rabbit, crackling and roaring.

Rabbit paused not a moment longer. He took to his heels in panic and ran
as fast as he could away from the fire. He spied a lone cottonwood tree
and scuttled towards it.

" Everything is burning!" he cried. "Will you shelter me?"

The cottonwood shook its slender branches mournfully. "What can I do?"'
it asked. "I will be burned to the ground."

Rabbit ran on. Behind him, the flames were coming closer. He could feel
their breath on his back. A greasewood tree lay in his path.

"'Hide me! Hide me!" Rabbit gasped. "The fire is coming."

"I cannot help you," answered the greasewood tree. "I will be burned up
roots and branches."

Terrified and almost out of breath, Rabbit continued to run, but his
strength was failing. He could feel the fire licking at his heels and
his fur was beginning to singe.

Suddenly he heard a voice calling to him. "Quickly, come under me! The
fire will pass over me so swiftly that it will only scorch my top."

It was the voice of a small green bush with flowers like bunches of
cotton capping its thin branches. Gratefully, Rabbit dived below it and
lay there quivering, his eyes tightly shut, his ears flat against his
body.

With a thunderous roar, the sheet of flame leaped overhead. The little
bush crackled and sizzled. Then, gradually, the noise receded and
everything grew quiet once more.

Rabbit raised his head cautiously and looked around. Everywhere the
earth lay black and smoking, but the fire had passed on. He was safe!

The little bush which had sheltered him was no longer green. Burned and
scorched by the fire, it had turned a golden yellow. People now call it
the desert yellow brush, for, although it first grows green, it always
turns yellow when it feels the heat of the sun.

Rabbit never recovered from his fright. To this day, he bears brown
spots where the fire scorched the back of his neck. He is no longer
fierce and quarrelsome, but runs and hides at the slightest noise.

As for Sun, he too was never quite the same. He now makes himself so
bright that no one can look at him long enough to sight an arrow and he
always peers very warily over the horizon before he brings his full body
into view.


readmsg 1052

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Miraman, in the year 353 AF.