Atondido Stories
feebly.
Rabbit then hid for some days far from the Chief and his
warriors. Then he decided to try another trick. The Chief's wood-
cutter was old Beaver, who lived in a little house of reeds on the
bank of a stream. He was very busy now cutting down trees for
the Chief, for it was near to spring-time and the people were in
need of logs for building roads over the rivers. One day Rabbit
went to Beaver and said, "The Chief sent me to you to bring you
to a great tree he wishes you to cut down at once." So Beaver
went along with him. But when Beaver was busy at his task
cutting down the tree, Rabbit hit him a savage blow on the head
with a big stick hoping to kill him and thus again to anger the
Chief. Poor Beaver fell to the ground and Rabbit ran away. But
Beaver was only stunned. He got up after a time and went home
muttering to himself and rubbing his sore head. Soon Rabbit
came back to the tree and found Beaver gone. He knew that his
blow had failed. Then he put on again his tattered old dress and
his ragged shawl and his coloured spectacles and the hat with
the red feather sticking to the top, and he went to Beaver's house
by the stream, hobbling along with a stick. "The Chief sent me to
you to bring you to a great tree he wishes you to cut down at
once," he called. And Beaver said, "I have already tried to cut a
great tree for him to-day and I should have finished it had I not
been beaten with a stick until I was stunned by the blow." "Who
struck you?" asked Rabbit, laughing to himself. "Rabbit struck
me," answered Beaver. "He is a great brigand and a liar and a
thief," said Rabbit. "He is all that," said Beaver, rubbing the lump
on his head. So Beaver went along with Rabbit. And Rabbit
asked as they went along, "How is it that you are alive after that
cruel blow?" And Beaver said, "Rabbit hit me on the head. If he
had hit me on the back of my neck he would have killed me,
226