One day little hare sat under a fruit tree and thought… and thought… and thought. What my children, did little hare think about under the tree? “What will happen to me, when the earth comes to an end?” he thought, and at that very moment a fruit fell from the tree. Off ran little hare as fast as his legs could carry him, so sure he was that the noise of the fruit falling to the ground was that of the earth breaking to pieces. And he ran and ran, not daring to look behind him.
“Brother, brother,” called another little hare who saw him running. “Pray tell me what has happened!” But little hare ran on and did not even turn to answer. The other hare ran after him, calling louder and louder: “What has happened, little brother, what has happened?” At last little hare stopped a moment and said: “The earth is breaking to pieces!” At this the other hare started running still faster and a third hare joined them, and a fourth, and a fifth, till a hundred thousand hares were racing through the fields. And they raced through the forest and the deep jungles, and the deer, the boars, the elks, the buffaloes, the oxen, the rhinoceros, the tigers, the lions, and the elephants, hearing that the earth was coming to an end, all ran wildly with them.
But among those living in the jungle was a lion, a wise lion, who knew everything that took place in the world. And when it became known to him that so many hundreds and thousands of animals were running away because they believed that the earth was breaking to pieces, he thought: “This earth of ours is far from coming to an end, but my poor creatures will die if I do not save them, for in their fright they will run into the sea.” And he ran at such a pace that he reached a certain mountain which lay in their path before they came to it. And as they passed by the mountain he roared three times with such a mighty roar that they stopped in their mad flight and stood still close to each other, trembling.
The great lion descended from the mountain and approached them. “Why are you running at such a pace?”, he asked.
“The earth is breaking to pieces,” they replied.
“Who saw it breaking to pieces?”, he asked.
“The elephants,” they replied.
“Did you see it breaking?” he asked the elephants.
“No, we did not see it; the lions saw it,” they replied.
“Did you see it?” he asked the lions.
“No, the tigers saw it,” they replied.
“Did you see it?” he asked the tigers.
“The rhinoceros saw it,” they replied.
But the rhinoceros said: “The oxen saw it.” The oxen said: “The buffaloes saw it.” The buffaloes said: “The elks saw it.” The elks said: “The boars saw it.” The boars said: “The deer saw it.” The deer said: “The hares saw it.” And the hares said: “That little one told us that the earth was breaking.”
“Did you see the earth breaking?” he asked little hare. “Yes, Lord”, replied the hare, “I saw it breaking.” “Where were you when you saw it breaking?” he asked. With a trembling voice little hare replied: “I was sitting beneath a fruit tree and I thought: ‘What will happen to me when the earth comes to an end?’ And at the very moment I heard the noise of the earth breaking, and I ran.” The great Lion thought: ‘He was sitting beneath a fruit tree; certainly the noise he heard was that of a fruit falling to the ground.’ “Ride on my back, little one,” he said, “and show me where you saw the earth break.”
Little hare jumped on his back and the great lion flew to the place, but as they approached the fruit tree little hare jumped off, so frightened he was to return to the spot. And he pointed out the tree to the lion, saying: “Lord, there is the tree.” The great one went to the tree and saw the spot where little hare had been sitting and the fruit which had fallen from the tree. “Come here, little one,” he called. “Now, where do you see the earth broken?”
Little hare, after looking around, and seeing the fruit on the ground, knew that there had been no occasion for his fright; he jumped once again on the lion’s back and away they went to the hundreds and thousands of creatures who were awaiting their return. The lion then told the great multitude that the noise little hare had heard was of a fruit falling to the ground.
And so all turned back, the elephants to the jungle, the lions to the caves, the deer to the river banks, and little hare to the fruit tree, and they all lived happy every after.
