NO.^SOr* ^^' EASTERN CHEROKEE FOLKTALES — KILPATRICK 409 



The Rabbit said, "The Wolf has caught me, and he is bringing me 

 here to you for you to decide if it is all right for him to kiU me." 



(The Rabbit and the Terrapin were very close friends, and they 

 lived together. They had agreed if either of them were caught, the 

 other was to help him. Over the Rabbit's hole they had propped up 

 a heavy stone.) 



The Terrapin said to the Wolf, "Where did you catch him?" 



"Over there, in his hole," the Wolf said. 



"Well, let's go over there," the Terrapin said. 



So they all started over to the Rabbit's burrow, and when they got 

 there, the Terrapin said, "How did you catch him? Show me." 



Then the Wolf explained that he had first tried, but had failed, to 

 get the Rabbit by digging into the front of the hole, and then later 

 had dug from behind and had found the Rabbit squatting against 

 the back of his burrow. 



"Let's see just how you did it," said the Terrapin. 



So the Wolf dug into the burrow again. The Terrapin and the 

 Rabbit remained outside. As soon as the Wolf was well into the 

 hole, the Terrapin and the Rabbit pulled away the props and the 

 heavy stone fell and buried the Wolf. 



That is the way the Wolf was killed. 



7.— THE DEER DUPES THE EABBIT 



This story is about another kind of Rabbit — a larger one. 



He had played many tricks upon the other animals, but it was 

 against the law to kill him. So the animals assembled and asked 

 each other, "How can we get rid of this Rabbit?" 



They agreed that they must remove him, so at this meeting of the 

 animals the Deer said, "I can make him leave the country; I can put 

 him in another country." 



All the animals said that they would like that. 



So the Deer went to talk to the Rabbit and asked him if he would 

 like to enter a contest to jump across a small stream. The Rabbit, a 

 great jumper, was willing. 



The Deer and the Rabbit came to a small stream which the Rabbit 

 knew that he could jump across with ease. "You jump first," said 

 the Deer. 



The Rabbit gave a tremendous leap; the Deer did not jump at all. 



When the Rabbit hit the ground, he looked back and saw that he 

 had jumped across the ocean.*^ 



«' Mooney (1900, p. 277) records this story substantially as it stands here 



