94 The Chase 



Tame Hares ^:> ^:> ^is>> 



1"^HE hares [Lepus Americanus) were very familiar. 

 One hid her form under my house all winter, 

 separated from me only by the flooring, and she 

 startled me each morning by her hasty departure 

 when I began to stir, — thump, thump, thump, 

 striking her head against the floor timbers in her 

 hurry. They used to come round my door at dusk 

 to nibble the potato parings which I had thrown 

 out, and were so nearly the colour of the ground 

 that they could hardly be distinguished when still. 

 Sometimes in the twilight I alternately lost and 

 recovered sight of one sitting motionless under my 

 window. When I opened my door in the evening, 

 off they would go with a squeak and a bounce. 

 Near at hand they only excited my pity. One 

 evening one sat by my door two paces from me, 

 at first trembling with fear, yet unwilling to move ; 

 a poor wee thing, lean and bony, with ragged ears 

 and sharp nose, scant tail and slender paws. It 

 looked as if Nature no longer contained the breed 

 of nobler bloods, but stood on her last toes. Its 

 large eyes appeared young and unhealthy, almost 

 dropsical. I took a step, and lo, away it scud with 

 an elastic spring over the snow crust, straightening 

 its body and its limits into graceful length, and soon 

 put forest between me and itself, — the wild free 

 venison, asserting its vigour and the dignity of 

 Nature. Not without reason was its slenderness. 

 Such then was its nature. 



H, D. Thoreau. 



