THE VICTIM HARE* 
199 
CHAPTER YI. 
THE CHASE WITH HOUHDS. 
THE HARE. THE STAG.— THE FALLOW-DEER. THE ROEBUCK. THE 
WILD BOAR. THE WOLF. THE FOX. 
THE HARE. 
This is the type of the victim species. 
The enemies of the hare are all the carnivora of the forests and 
the air, besides — Man. The little weasel, and even the rabbit, 
make war on it. It is the emblem of the inferior races, reduced 
to helotism, and condemned by the right of the stronger to pay 
with its blood, tribute to the pleasure of the conquerors. God has 
given the unhappy creature, to preserve it from the innumerable 
chances of destruction which threaten it, first, fecundity, the sad 
privilege of misery ; then, swiftness to fly, and cunning to foil its 
persecutors on the trace. The hare is well armed, like the rat and 
the squirrel, with powerful incisors, which it might use against its 
executioners ; but demoralization, the forced consequence of con- 
tinued misfortune, has taken from it even the consciousness of its 
means. It uses its natural arms only against its own species, like 
the slave, and seeks safety only in flight. 
The hare is cut out for running ; its Latin name lejpus, is only 
the contraction of the two words levis pes — light foot. The dis- 
proportioned length of its hind legs makes two powerful springs, 
which are stretched out at will, and which communicate to its pro- 
gressive motions an energetic impulse. This particular arrange- 
ment of the hind quarters of the hare, permits it also to climb 
hills with the same swiftness that it runs on a level surface, a privi- 
lege which it uses to gain an advance upon the dogs, especially 
