396 HIUOXGA FOLKLORE. 



Then the hare came to the branches where the fruit was, 

 and he began to eat the fruit as fast as he could, eating all the 

 fruit, and putting all the stones of the fruit into the basket that 

 he hnd taken with him. 



When he had eaten up all the fruit, the basket was full of 

 stones. Then he came down quietly, and went among the 

 animals, walking very softly, until he came to the place where 

 the elephant was. The elephant was fast asleep. So the hare 

 hung the stones of the fruit that he had eaten in a bag behind 

 the ears of the elephant. (N.B. — A necessary variation here.) 

 Then he went back again into the mortar, and covered himself 

 up and went to .sleep. 



Now early in the morning all the animals awoke, and wamied 

 themselves in the sun. By and bye they heard the hare scratch- 

 -ing inside the mortar, crying, " Can't you please open for me? I 

 want to see the sunshine." 



They said, " Oh, we have forgotten about you." Then one 

 of them lifted up the mortar, and the hare came out. 



The hare came and stood before the Hon and said, " Shawan, 

 Hosi, good morning, my lord! " Then he looked up at the 

 hivebe tree, and cried out, " Oh.;....! 1 said last night that you 

 must put me inside that mortar. Was it not true? Just look at 

 that tree, the tree of our master the lion. Just look at it ! 

 Where is the Iruit? It is all gone; someone has eaten it up ! ' IfT 

 had pot been shut up in the mortar all the night you would think 

 that I had done it !" 



Then all the animals looked up at the tree, and saw that 

 all the fruit was eaten yp, and they were very much afraid. 

 And "the lion was very angry, so angry that all the animals 

 quaked. 



The lion told all the animals to come together, and he tried 

 to find out who had taken the fruit, but none of them could 

 say who it was. The lion could not find out who had done it. 



Then the hare came and stood just in front of the lion, and 

 said, " Please, my master, may I speak'' 



The lion said, " Speak I 



Then the hare said, " I will tell you a plan to find out the 

 one who did this; eating the fruit of our master in the night," 



" Oh," Slid the lion, " what is your plan? 



" I will tell you," said the hare; " but first tell the animals 

 to help me, and to do what I tell them." 



Then the lion ordered all the animals to do what the hare 

 should tell them to do, so that the one might be found who had 

 eaten the fiuit of the tree. 



So they dug a big, long pit. Now when the pit was finished, 

 the hare said, " Now let everybody jump over this place here. If 

 we all do so, we shall find out who took the fruit of the tree, 

 eating the tree of our master. 



" Very well," said the lion, " I myself, your master, will 

 also jump." So the lion jumped first. Nothing happened. 



