"Long ago, the great Frith made the world." "He made all the stars... and the world lived among the stars." "Frith made all the animals and birds... and, at first, made them all the same." "Now, among the animals was El-ahrairah, the Prince of Rabbits." "He had many friends... and they all ate grass together." "After a time, the rabbits wandered everywhere... multiplying and eating as they went." "Then, Frith said to El-ahrairah.:" ""Prince Rabbit, if you cannot control your people..." ""l shall find ways to control them. "" "El-ahrairah would not listen, and said to Frith.:" ""My people are the strongest in the world. "" "This angered Frith, so he determined to get the better of El-ahrairah." "He gave a present to every animal and bird... making each one different from the rest." "When the fox came, and others like the dog and cat... the hawk and weasel... to them, Frith gave a desire to hunt and slay the children of El-ahrairah." "El-ahrairah knew that Frith was too clever for him, and he was frightened." "He had never before seen the Black Rabbit of Death." ""My friend, " said Frith, "have you seen El-ahrairah?" ""For I wish to give him a gift. "" ""No, I have not seen him. "" "So, Frith said, "Come out, and I will bless you instead. "" ""No, I cannot. I am busy." "The fox and weasel are coming." ""lf you want to bless me, you will have to bless my bottom. "" ""Very well." "Be it so. "" "And El-ahrairah's tail grew shining white, and it flashed like a star." "And his back legs grew long and powerful." "He tore across the hill faster than any creature in the world." ""All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies." ""And whenever they catch you, they will kill you." ""But first, they must catch you..." ""digger, listener, runner." ""Prince with the swift warning." ""Be cunning and full of tricks..." ""and your people will never be destroyed. "" "Along the edge of that wood, there." "Enjoyed many a game pie from it, too." "You can't hold back progress." "Shame, though." "It's gone 8:00, and I told Elizabeth we'd go into Newbury this evening." "Old sun sets so late in summer, it's morning before...." "l think it's safe now, Fiver." "There's still something strange about the warren this evening." "is it dangerous?" "It's not exactly danger. lt's...." "l don't know." "Something oppressive." "Like thunder." "It seems safe enough now, though." "Come on, see if you can find me a coltsfoot. lf you can't, no one can." "What's going on?" "lt's only that runt, Fiver." "Jumping at bluebottles again." "Come on." "Hurry up." "Fiver found it, Toadflax." "And we'll eat it." "Coltsfoot are for Owsla." "You know that." "Tell you the truth, I'm getting sick and tired of it." "Sometimes I feel like clearing out of the warren altogether." "Never mind." "Let's forget it, and try to enjoy the evening." "Hazel?" "Hazel, this is where it comes from." "I know now that terrible thing is coming." "What do you mean?" "Look." "The field!" "The field!" "lt's covered with blood!" "Blood?" "Don't be silly." "All right, Fiver. lt's getting dark." "We should get back to the burrow." "Back to the burrow?" "It'll come there." "Don't think it won't." "It's all around us." "Now, stop it, Fiver." "We've got to go away from here." "All of us." "Go away?" "What, the whole warren?" "Yes, before it's too late." "You're being silly." "They'll think you're out of your mind." "You must listen to me, Hazel." "Something very bad is going to happen." "We'd better try and see the Chief Rabbit." "You can tell him about it." "I don't expect he'll like the idea at all." "We've got to go away from the warren!" "All of us!" "Go away?" "Yes, before it's too late." "is something wrong?" "What's the matter?" "ls there danger?" "Come on." "Let's find out what's happened." "Hazel?" "It is Hazel, isn't it?" "lt is." "What are you doing here?" "We want to see the Chief Rabbit, Bigwig." ""We"?" "You mean he wants to see him, too?" "Yes." "l must." "What's it all about?" "Bigwig?" "What do they want?" "They want to see the Chief Rabbit." "What for?" "l have to" "Send them away." "I'll take care of it, Holly." "Look, Bigwig, when have I ever asked to see the Chief Rabbit before?" "All right." "Wait here." "Excuse me, sir." "These two outskirts have asked to see you." "is it all right if I bring them down?" "Come on, then, though I'll probably get my ears chewed off for this." "Now, Walnut." "lt is Walnut, isn't it?" "No, sir." "Hazel." "I knew your mother well." "And your friend?" "My brother, sir." "Fiver." "Your brother." "Now, do tell me how I can help you." "Well, he says there's a bad danger coming to our warren." "A bad danger." "How very upsetting." "Now, what sort of danger, I wonder?" "I don't know." "But it's bad. lt's so bad." "Well, now." "What ought we to do?" "Go away." "All of us." "Now." "Now?" "In May?" "The mating season?" "And where would we go to?" "He's had these feelings before, and he's been right again and again." "I shall have to consider this very carefully." "Perhaps we'll discuss it later, in the summer." "We can't wait!" "It's been good of you to come, Walnut." "Bigwig!" "Bigwig." "Sir?" "What was that all about?" "Well, sir...." "Your duty as an officer is to protect this burrow." "Yes, sir." "Those two lunatics...." "Yes, sir." "Who's that?" "lt's me." "Dandelion?" "No, Blackberry." "Dandelion told me you were leaving the warren tonight." "lf it's true, I'd like to come along." "We'd like to come along, too." "l don't much like the look of things." "We must get everyone." "That Toadflax fellow followed me down the run." "It could mean the Owsla has been turned out tonight." "Then the sooner we're off, the better." "It's the Owsla." "They're coming." "There aren't many of you left, are there?" "Bigwig?" "Are you off duty?" "Off duty, and likely to remain off." "I've left the Owsla." "Fiver, I've been thinking about what you said." "We're leaving." "Leaving?" "All of you?" "Where to?" "We don't know exactly." "But we're going." "You're all under arrest!" "Under arrest?" "What do you mean?" "What for?" "Spreading dissension, inciting to mutiny." "There's a bad danger coming." "lt's not good." "You'll all come with me." "is he alone?" "I am captain of Owsla." "Go, now, or we'll kill you." "It's you who'll be killed." "Bigwig!" "Yes, you know me." "He'll come back with the Owsla soon." "Right." "Well, I think I'll come with you." "Hazel, we'll have to stop here." "Fiver and that other half-size, we're all in." "They need to rest." "He's right, Hazel." "Look." "Once we're beyond the woods... we'll really be clear of the Owsla." "We can rest then." "I've never been in a wood before, Hazel." "It looks dangerous." "Follow me." "A lendri!" "This way." "lt had just killed. I saw blood on its lips." "Lucky for us, it had." "Otherwise, it might have been quicker." "We shall have to cross it." "Cross it?" "Who's going to cross it?" "What do you want to cross it for?" "Are you sure about this?" "Yes." "But I don't think I can swim, Hazel." "I'm worn out." "Pipkin is even worse off than me." "We can't just sit here." "I know what we ought to be looking for." "A high, lonely place with dry soil... where we can see and hear all around, and men hardly ever come." "There's a dog loose in the wood." "Well, that does it." "A dog?" "Come on." "What do you think will happen when he picks up our scent?" "Those that can swim, swim." "The others will have to make out the best they can." "That's not good enough." "We got into this together, we'll get out of it together." "Hazel, look." "It floats." "That's it." "That's it!" "Fiver, get on, quickly." "Silver, Bigwig, get your nose under it." "Push it out." "Quickly!" "Keep still!" "Are you all right?" "Of course." "That was a good idea of yours, Blackberry." "Yes." "Let's try to remember it." "Might come in handy again." "Does anyone know where we're going?" "Hazel does, I'm sure." "I've never seen anything like that before." "The man-thing killed it." "A man-thing?" "A hrududu. lt runs on it." "The what?" "The hrududu." "lt runs on it?" "Yeah, faster than we can." "lt's dangerous, then. lt could catch us." "No, no." "It won't take any notice of us at all." "I'll show you." "Watch this." "See?" "It's not interested." "What are you waiting for?" "Well?" "Come along, then." "They need to rest, Hazel." "Something's up ahead." "A warm, friendly burrow, perhaps?" "No, not a burrow." "A field." "A great field of scented plants that will cover us until we're rested." "You're beginning to sound like a chief, Hazel." "Hazel-rah." "Hazel-rah?" "That'll be the day I call him chief, that will." "Violet's gone." "We'd better keep moving." "We'll have to stop soon, Hazel." "They're frightened and tired." "Over there." "We'll rest there." "Can't rest there." "That's a man-place." "There are no men there now." "It looks all right." "What's happening back home, I wonder." "Think, when we lived in our own burrows:" "Dry, soft, warm bodies." "Now, look, we can't go on like this." "lt gets worse the further we go." "Where are we going?" "It won't be much longer." "Then we can all rest." "How much longer?" "We never should have left." "Suppose Fiver's all wrong?" "We want to go back and find out." "Go back?" "After all we've been through?" "And probably get killed for wounding Captain Holly, an Owsla officer?" "Talk sense, for Frith's sake." "We must go on, until we reach the hills." "Those that go back will not...." "Not safe...." "l don't believe you know where you're going." "Now, listen to me, you bunch of mole-snouted, muckraking.... lt looks like you've come a long way." "Do you live here?" "Yes, this is our warren." "We need to stay here for a while." "Why not?" "We supposed you would." "But I don't think there are enough of you to live very comfortably on your own." "There are enough of us to protect ourselves." "Don't get upset." "Who are you?" "What do you want?" "My name is Cowslip, and I don't want anything." "Yeah, what about the others?" "We have plenty of empty burrows, if that's what you mean." "And now, if you'll excuse me, I hate the rain." "Funny smell." "We ought to have nothing to do with that Cowslip, or his warren." "It might be drier in there." "Whatever will he think of us if we don't go in?" "l'll tell you." "He'll think we're afraid." "Afraid?" "Who's afraid?" "He seemed friendly enough." "What has he got to gain by asking us to join him?" "We can't sit out here like fools." "Well, come along then." "They think I'm mad, but you know I'm not... and you still won't listen." "Hazel?" "Come along, Fiver." "There's that smell again." "It's almost like man." "Oh, it's you, is it?" "How nice." "I'm so glad you've come." "This is rather a big warren." "Yes." "Please, help yourself to flayrah." "There are fresh roots here daily." "The man throws it out." "Man?" "What man?" "A lot of the burrows are lying empty, you know... so you're all welcome to any that you choose." "Where are all the others?" "Please, eat all you like." "We'll leave you to your...." "Where are they all?" "Where?" "Try asking Cowslip "where" anything." "They seem sad." "Like trees in November." "Well, I still think we've made a big change for the better." "Do you think the man puts the food out there because of a kind heart?" "It's not poison." "There's something unnatural and evil and twisted about this place." "It feels like mist." "Like being deceived, and losing our way." "Some of us are gathering and suggesting stories." "We're hoping you'll tell one." "Hazel can tell you about our adventures." "How we had the good luck to join you." "Surely, there's no harm in that." "Dandelion, why don't you tell us the story of El-ahrairah?" "El-ahrairah and his trickery don't really mean very much to us, charming as it is." "Rabbits will always need tricks." "No, we need dignity, and above all, the will to accept our fate." "As one of our poets is fond of saying, if I may quote...." "Yes, of course." "Please, do." ""Where are you going, stream?" ""Far, far away" ""Take me with you, stream" ""Take me on your dark journey" ""Lord Frith, take me far away To the hearts of light" ""The silence, I give you my breath" ""My life, the silence" -l've had enough!" "Where are you going?" "Away, to the hills." "By yourself, alone?" "You'll die." "You're closer to death than I." "Determined to ruin it for us, aren't you?" "No!" "Me, me, me." "All the time." ""But, I'm in a mist."" "Bigwig!" ""Everything's bad! "" "No!" ""l've a funny feeling in my toe."" "No, no!" "l'm finished with you." "What's more, I'm going to make sure everyone else is." "Bigwig, listen." "You're in a snare." "A snare." "Now, what did they tell you in Owsla?" "Think." "No good biting wire." "Run to the warren and get the others." "Blackberry, Silver and Cowslip." "Be quick." "He'll die." "Blackberry!" "Dandelion!" "Come quickly!" "Come on." "Hurry up. lt's Bigwig." "He's still breathing." "What can we do?" "We've got to loosen the wire somehow." "Yes, but how?" "ls Cowslip coming?" "Maybe he knows." "He wouldn't come." "He told me to stop talking about it." "He told you what?" "This is it." "The wire's on a peg." "We've got to dig it out." "The peg's narrower down there. lt tapers." "I can't get my teeth into it." "Pipkin, you go in." "The splinters prick you." "It's hard to breathe." "The peg's nearly through." "Fiver, you go in." "I can't hear him breathing." "It's broken in two. lt's free." "Bigwig, the peg's out." "You're free." "I think he's gone." "We've got you out, Bigwig." "You're free." "Bigwig, please don't die." "lt's no use." "We got you out." "What shall we do without him?" ""My heart has joined the thousand For my friend stopped running today"" "You pay for it." "The food, the warren." "But no one must ever ask where anyone was... or speak of the wires." "The whole place is snared, everywhere." "They left Bigwig to die." "Silver's right." "Let's drive them out, take their warren and live there ourselves." "Yes." "Back to the warren." "Back to the warren." "Embleer Frith, you fools!" "That warren's nothing but a death hole." "Let's help ourselves to a roof of bones." "Who killed them?" "Bigwig!" "You're alive!" "Are you all right?" "We thought you were dead." "Let him alone." "Let him rest." "l don't have to rest." "What do we do now, Fiver?" "Go away from here." "Look." "Look." "That's the place for us." "High, lonely hills... where the wind and the sound carry, and the ground's as dry as straw in a barn." "That's where we ought to be." "That's where we have to get to." "Pipkin." "Pipkin." "Pipkin!" "Why don't we go and look around the farm?" "Farm, Hazel?" "What for?" "Cats and dogs." "l've got a little plan." "Won't it be dangerous?" "Of course not." "ls it safe?" "Of course." "Let's all go." "No." "Just you and me." "I think I see a dog." "Where?" "It's tied up." "Give it a wide berth." "We don't want it to wake up the whole farm." "This is the BBC Home Service." "They are up." "Hazel?" "Let's go back." "Just a little further." "Rabbits." "So, that's your secret plan." "I'm going inside to take a look around." "is it safe in there?" "Of course." "You wait here." "But if you see a cat...." "A cat?" "You will let me know at once, all right?" "Right." "I'm Hazel." "Hazel." "My name's Clover." "Where do you come from?" "Far away." "My friends and I live as we please." "We eat grass, lie in the sun." "Do you ever get out?" "Oh, yes." "Sometimes, a child takes us out on the grass." "Would you like to join us?" "Join you?" "But how?" "How can we join you?" "Hazel!" "There's a cat outside." "I must go back to my friends." "But we'll be back, and any of you who wish can come along with us." "Where is it?" "There. I think it smelt us." "l'll get you away." "Thank you." "Just follow me closely." "Yes." "And run when I do." "Run when you do." "You look hungry." "Rats getting too clever, I suppose." "I bet you can't run at all." "You pie-eyed, saucer-licking scrap-scraper." "Can you run?" "You'll see." "I think not." "What's all that, then?" "Tab?" "Tab!" "Let them alone." "Cruel thing." "What is it?" "There's something coming up the line of the hedge." "Can you see it?" "l hear it. lt's something big." "A cat?" "l don't know." "Bigwig!" "Quiet. I want to listen." "Bigwig!" "Bigwig!" "It's the Black Rabbit of lnlè!" "Don't talk like that." "They'll go tharn." "We go by the will of the Black Rabbit." "When he calls you, you have to go." "Stay where you are." "Who's there?" "All dead!" "All gone!" "It's Captain Holly!" "Holly, it's me, Bigwig." "l found you." "I found you." "He's been hurt." "Look at that wound on his shoulder." "I remember you." "You're the one that saw it coming." "But what happened?" "Our warren, destroyed." "Destroyed?" "How?" "Men came." "Filled in the burrows." "Couldn't get out." "There was a strange sound." "You see, the air turned bad." "Runs blocked with dead bodies." "We couldn't get out." "Everything turned mad." "Warren, herbs, roots, grass... all pushed into the earth." "Men have always hated us." "No." "They just destroyed the warren because we were in their way." "They'll never rest until they've spoiled the earth." "I tried to find you." "I wandered for days." "The Efrafans wouldn't let me go." "They ripped my ear." "Ripped it." "I tried to find you." "Efrafans?" "What's he talking about?" "Holly." "Let him be." "He's had a bad time." "He can tell us about it when he's rested." "A young doe has a request, sire." "A doe wants to see me?" "Says she represents a group, sire." "I see." "Your name?" "Hyzenthlay, sir." "Don't be frightened." "You're safe here." "Get on with it!" "Sir, several of us proposed an expedition to start... a new warren somewhere else." "A new warren?" "Out of the question." "But, you don't understand." "The system is breaking down." "Explain that." "We can't produce litters." "We're overcrowded." "I want no further discussion." "We'll go as far as you like." "Here or anywhere else." "Thank you, sir." "Campion, have her watched." "That's it, Hazel." "That's where we have to be." "Let me get this straight, Fiver." "You want us to climb this, is that it?" "Yes!" "Come on, Pipkin!" "Come and look." "You can see the whole world!" "I found a burrow, Hazel." "Under that beech hanger... with a great hall and no smell of death or disease." "Frith on the hills!" "He made it all for us!" "Frith may have made it, but Fiver found it." "l've never seen anything like it." "lt's some kind of a bird." "Are you hurt?" "Bigwig, I've got an idea." "See if you can find some worms." "Worms?" "Me, dig for worms?" "What for, for Frith's sake?" "I get up plenty soon." "He's hurt and we want to help him." "A bird?" "What for?" "We help you." "Piss off!" "What for help me?" "What happened to you?" "Damn cat jump me, farm cat." "We know her." "We take you to burrow." "Go away." "Wing no good, but I walk plenty good." "ls long way?" "Where you come from?" "From big water." "My home by big water." "We go." "I thought everything would be fine once we got here, but it's not." "Because now we've got here, I find it's not that simple." "What do you mean?" "This place is as safe as Fiver said it was." "I think we've done very well for ourselves." "But we don't have any does." "Does?" "Does." "Not one, and that means no kittens." "And after we're gone, no warren." "So that's why you went to that farm." "I thought we'd be able to get some hutch rabbits to join us." "What's to be done then, Hazel?" "Set off again?" "And where?" "There's not been a sniff of another rabbit since we got here." "The bird, Kehaar." "We'll get the bird to search for us." "What home?" "This hole?" "Where are mates?" "Where are chicks?" "Mate make eggs, mate sit on eggs... hatch eggs, many eggs." "We feed chick." "Egg robbers come, we fight." "You stupid bunnies!" "You got no mates!" "Where are mates?" "Where are chicks?" "Plenty trouble for you." "You need mates!" "It's working, Hazel." "You got no brains." "You no plan." "You need mate for plan." "Listen." "I got plan for you." "Wing better, I go fly." "Fly for you." "I find mates." "What a splendid idea, Kehaar!" "How clever of you to think of it." "You very fine bird." "When will you be able to fly?" "I fly any time." "Stand back." "When I fly...." "Stand back." "Stand back." "Back, back." "I need room." "Wings good." "Feathers clean." "I soar!" "I glide!" "I circle." "Then, I soar!" "Bigwig said you couldn't make a friend out of him." "He's probably gone back to the big water." "l think you're right." "Blackberry, I want you to get Dandelion... and meet me here after the others are asleep." "lt's no good asking you not to go." "lt'll be perfectly safe, Fiver." "I'll take the greatest care." "Clover." "Clover!" "Who's that?" "It's me." "We're back." "Hazel." "What are you doing up there?" "l've come to let you out." "Will you come with us?" "We're all right here." "Yes." "Good." "Come on." "Come on, move." "Lucy's rabbits are out, look." "Let's get them in, quick." "There's a wild rabbit, look." "There he goes." "Keep the torch on them." "I don't know, John, whether you hit it or not." "l reckon he's in those nettles." "Have a look, then." "I hit him, all right." "That's blood down there, see?" "That don't signify." "He might be a long way off by now." "I reckon you've lost him." "No, we ain't." "Fiver, there's been some trouble." "Hazel's been shot." "No." "The Black Rabbit serves Lord Frith... but he does no more than his appointed task." "Hazel's not dead." "Perfect landing." "Hazel's been wounded." "The farm man shot him." "Come on, follow me." "Come on!" "You get black stones out?" "What do you mean?" "Always with gun is coming little black stones." "You never see?" "Take out black stones, he get better." "Let me see leg." "Many stones." "Did you find anything on your flight?" "Efrafa." "Can you guide us there?" "Many rabbits." "Too many rabbits." "We wouldn't be enough to fight one of their patrols." "What do you mean?" "You see this?" "They did it to me." "It's an identification mark." "Tells you when you can be above ground." "What do you mean?" "Who's to stop you?" "Their Owsla." "Their chief is called Woundwort." "General Woundwort." "I don't think even you would match up to him, Bigwig." "Under him are captains, each one in charge of a mark." "If you're found above ground at the wrong time... they take you before the council for punishment." "Some of them must get away." "They caught one trying to run away when I was there." "Blackavar was his name." "When they'd finished with him, both his ears were ripped to shreds... worse than this one of mine." "He was lucky not to have been killed." "There was another one, a doe, Hyzenthlay." "I couldn't have escaped without her help." "Why didn't she go with you?" "She wouldn't go without the others." "Then some might be persuaded to leave?" "Yes, but you'd never get them out of Efrafa." "You got out." "Only because Lord Frith sent one of his great messengers." "I didn't see what happened to them." "It must have cut them down." "It's not going to be easy, but we don't have much choice." "We'll start off as soon as I'm fit to travel." "l don't like this idea of yours at all." "Holly, I want you to stay here." "You're known to them and it could be dangerous for you." "I've been in Efrafa, and I tell you you're making a bad mistake... that might very well get you all killed." "There's a homba." "No one move." "Keep still, all of you." "What's he up to?" "Trying to draw it off, I suppose." "Frith and lnlè!" "Come on, let's get out of here." "Come on, hurry!" "Aren't you wounded?" "Never better!" "Let's go!" "What was that all about?" "l just lost my head, Hazel." "I've been strung up all day, thinking about Efrafa." "Anyway, I feel a lot better now." "Why did you cry out, if you're all right?" "I didn't. I just stopped limping, you know, ready to run really fast... when I bumped into a group of rabbits, face to face." "I tried to warn them about the homba, but all they did was try to stop me." "One of them said, "You stay here."" "So I knocked him down, I had to, and raced off." "Next thing I heard was this squeal." "So the homba got the other rabbit?" "He must have." "After all, I led them right into it." "But I never saw what happened." "It's not to rest here, they come." "A patrol?" "Yeah, is coming for find you, is go!" "You go to river, then they not find you." "All of you, under that bridge unless you want your ears chewed off." "Yeah, come along." "By other side iron road." "I think maybe they no like for go across iron road." "Hazel, you go on." "This may be my chance to get into Efrafa." "But it's too...." "All right, take care." "Now, Kehaar will meet you tomorrow, in that kale field." "Tell him what you've worked out." "Mr. Hazel, what wait for?" "He's right, Hazel, you must go now." "We'll go down to the river and wait there for you to tell us what to do." "I want you to find some way to keep them from following us." "Go on now, before we're all caught!" "It's a wide patrol." "Be careful, Hyzenthlay." "Sir, we've picked up this hlessi and brought him in." "Who are you?" "My name is Bigwig." ""Bigwig, sir! "" "What were you doing?" "l've come to join Efrafa." "Why?" "Surprised you ask... sir." "is there anything odd about wanting to join?" "I'll ask the questions." "What can you do?" "I can run and fight." "Fight, can you?" "l've been an officer in an Owsla." "So, you came to join us." "I thought you might have some use for me." "Well, for the time being, you'll be assigned a post in the patrol." "You'll take orders from Captain Campion." "If you want a doe, you have your choice here." "You're not an officer for nothing." "Thank you, sir." "And... you'll be identified by your mark." "Those Efrafans will be fast and savage." "I need to find a way to get away from them." "If what Holly says is true, we couldn't possibly stand and fight them." "Then we'll have to find another way." "What on earth is that, Kehaar?" "Him fish." "Hazel, come and look at this." "What is it?" "is boat." "Man make them go on water." "It floats, Hazel." "It floats." "Aren't you going to silflay?" "I don't silflay at this time, sir." "Tell him why you're here, Blackavar." "I come here for the mark to-- l come here for the mark to see me... how I've been punished for trying to leave the warren." "The council were merciful." "He keeps trying to run away." "Captain Campion caught him this time." "His ears were ripped and he is to show himself... at every morning and evening silflay as an example to the others." "If you ask me, he won't last much longer." "He'll meet a blacker rabbit than himself one of these nights." "That doe over there, what's her name?" "Fancy her, do you?" "She's called Hyzenthlay, but look elsewhere, she's a troublemaker." "The council's got their eye on her." "You go now, talk to Bigwig." "Yeah, I go talk to Mr. Bigwig." "He'll be in field by arch on the iron road." "Go find him." "By the iron road?" "Yeah, I go and find him." "He'll tell you the plan." "He tell me the plan?" "I know the plan!" "Now don't attract attention." "Of course not, of course not." "I be quiet. I be clever." "They no see me." "Kehaar, Kehaar." "You wait here." "Hyzenthlay." "Sir?" "I want to talk with you." "I am in the mark and under your orders, sir." "Do you remember a pale gray rabbit called Holly, you helped escape?" "You've made a mistake, sir." "Listen, Hyzenthlay, listen carefully." "I'm from a warren where life is free, where you can live as you wish." "I've come to bring you out of Efrafa, as many as will come." "You might be a spy, sent by the council." "You know I'm not." "Will you join us, and persuade your friends, as well?" "Trust me." "My friends are not far away." "My courage, my spirit is so much less than it was." "We can escape from Efrafa, believe me." "Yes." "I think I do." "Listen carefully." "Yeah!" "We're ready." "We leave at sunset." "Ready good!" "There will be lots of us." "We'll meet you at the iron bridge." "When?" "Sunset." "Good!" "Good." "Sunset." "Then you must guide us to the river." "Plenty good trick." "Trick, what trick?" "Listen, if you see a patrol following us you must drive them away, terrify them." "Yeah, I fly at them." "Remember: sunset." "You plenty good fellow." "It's set." "When?" "Get them to the near hind mark at sunset, just before early silflay." "Suppose something happens?" "Nothing will happen." "We can do it." "Yes." "I think we can." "Sometimes I can tell when things are true." "Sometimes I can see it." "A high down with trees and...." "l've become foolish." "You'll have to meet this friend of mine." "He talks just like that." "We'll be ready." "Sunset, then." "And a bird will fight for us." "A bird?" "Even Woundwort won't expect that." "Bigwig!" "That white bird you were talking to this morning" "Talking to, sir?" "You were very close to it." "Why?" "Well, I've never been hurt by a bird." "That's not what I asked." "To tell you the truth, sir, I think I was trying to impress you." "In future, stay in your own mark." "Sir." "One more thing:" "What do you know about a homba?" "A homba, sir?" "You led it onto some rabbits?" "I didn't intend to." "I didn't know they were there." "You didn't report it." "Everything out of the ordinary is to be reported." "I didn't know running from a homba was out of the ordinary." "That was a patrol on the track of a band of strangers." "Do you know anything about them?" "I saw some tracks, but I can't tell you anymore than that, sir." "I'm taking out a wide patrol tomorrow." "We'll cross the iron road and try to pick up their tracks." "I want you to come along." "Yes, sir." "Campion, follow him." "Don't let him out of your sight." "I've been told to tell you early silflay has been canceled this evening." "No one told me anything about it." "Have a look over there and you'll see why." "Now, Blackavar." "The new officer, sir, he's gone." "Bigwig?" "He's wounded Sherbil and taken a crowd of the mark with him." "I'll blind him. I'll blind him !" "Bigwig, where's the bird?" "He'll be here." "He'd better!" "Where is that bird?" "What I am doing here?" "I am wait for long time." "is no sunset. ls no good here." "Where are they?" "They should be here by now." "Silver, go up to the iron bridge and see if you can find them." "They're coming." "Bigwig, the general!" "What will we do?" "It nearly came off." "We'll take one or two of them with us before it's finished." "Bigwig?" "You traitors!" "Campion, get this miserable group back to their marks." "I'll settle with you myself, Bigwig." "No need to take you back." "Come on and try, you crack-brained slave driver." "Get away, blast you!" "Get away, you damned white bird!" "Straight ahead, to the river." "Keep going, it's a friend." "You did it, Bigwig." "You did it." "l did, didn't I?" "It's not over yet." "They gone." "Keep going, down to the river." "The general's behind me." "Where do we go, Hazel?" "I trusted you, Bigwig." "You can trust me now." "You'll either go into the river or be torn to pieces." "There's nowhere left to run." "Campion, Lily... when I give the word, we go straight into them." "That bird can't save you now." "There it is!" "What you do now?" "We're going back to our warren, Kehaar." "Good." "You go, I go." "is finish here for me." "l go to big water!" "Take care of that wing." "is winter plenty cold, then I come back." "Come back anytime." "And thank you, Kehaar." "Big water!" "Get the holes filled in." "Everyone underground." "What's the matter?" "The general." "Where?" "The wood behind us." "lt's full of Efrafans." "l'm not going back." "Maybe we ought to leave." "Anyone who wants to can go." "We went through a lot to get here, and I'm not leaving now." "Neither am I." "If I'm for the Black Rabbit, one or two from Efrafa will come with me." "We'll fill in the holes deep." "They'll have to dig us out." "They can't be out there long without attracting elil." "The Efrafans will never give up." "Maybe we should leave." "We're staying." "But there may be a better way." "Let me come with you." "No, they know you too well." "I'll go alone." "Now, get those holes filled in." "I won't be long." "They'll take us back to Efrafa." "Their Owsla will." "Listen, we're not finished yet, not by a long shot." "You were one of those on the riverbank." "Did Bigwig send you?" "I'm a friend of Bigwig's." "What was left unfinished on the riverbank will be finished now." "It would be better for both of us if we could come to terms." "Terms?" "Very well." "These are my terms." "Hand over all the deserters immediately." "We couldn't agree to that." "But I can suggest something better, for both of us." "You're in no position to bargain." "We shouldn't be fighting each other." "We have enough enemies as it is." "Perhaps we should be together." "A joining of free, independent warrens." "I have no time for this nonsense." "Shall I kill him, sir?" "No." "You take back our terms." "And you tell your chief, Bigwig, that if he and Hyzenthlay... and the others aren't waiting outside when I come for them... I'll tear out every throat in the place." "Do you remember the rats in the barn?" "We got out of that, all right." "Yes, we did." "We got out of that, all right." "They're into the beech roots." "Start at this end." "How cold!" "What is it?" "Are you all right?" "I've tried to listen, only I can't hear it." "I'm going away, Hazel. I'm floating." "Cold, how...." "Fiver." "Fiver." "Can you hear me?" "Listen." "They have something down there that's strange." "Get out, get out!" "They had a great bird that turned into a shaft of lightning." "And there was another creature that took them away down the river." "Here, I reckon we ought to go back home." "Who said that?" "Nobody, sir." "You were put there to dig." "Get back to it." "Great Frith, stop him, Hazel." "The others are going tharn." "Wake up." "Fiver, wake up." "There's a dog loose in the wood." "There's a dog loose in the wood." ""We need to cross because there's a dog loose in the wood. "" ""There's a dog loose in the wood. "" "Bigwig, I need runners." "Dandelion, Blackberry." "Hyzenthlay can run." "Good." "We've hardly any time." "I've got a plan." "If it works, it will finish Woundwort for good." "When we're gone, block this run and get everyone back behind the wall." "Hold them off as long as you can." "Don't give in to them." "Where are you going?" "El-ahrairah will show me what to do." "Let them go." "It's their chief, Bigwig, I'm after." "Find their chief!" "Hyzenthlay, you hide here." "When the time comes, get back to the warren." "lt will all depend on you." "l'll be ready." "Lord Frith, I know you've looked after us well... and it's wrong to ask even more of you... but my people are in terrible danger." "So, I'd like to make a bargain with you.:" "My life in return for theirs." "There is not a day or night that a doe offers her life for her kittens... or some honest captain of Owsla, his life for his chief." "But there is no bargain." "What is, is what must be." "Blackberry, this is where we leave you." "Stay close and don't move." "Don't break too soon." "Are you clear what's to be done?" "Yes." "You lie in the grass, just there, opposite him." "If we meet again, Hazel-rah... we'll have the makings of the best story ever." "And you'll be the one to tell it." "Can you run?" "I think not." "I think not." "Tab!" "Tab!" "I told you once, I was trying to impress you." "I hope I have." "And I told you that I would kill you myself." "There's no white bird here, Bigwig." "Why throw your life away?" "Hraka, sir." "Come out." "My chief's told me to defend this run." "Your chief?" "Run!" "Run for your lives!" "Come back!" "Come back, you fools!" "Come back!" "Come back and fight!" "Dogs aren't dangerous!" "General Woundwort's body was never found." "It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else." "But from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens... that if they did not do as they were told... the General would get them." "Such was Woundwort's monument." "Perhaps it would not have displeased him." "El-ahrairah knew, then, that Frith was his friend." "Every evening, when Frith has done his day's work... and lies calm and easy in the red sky..." "El-ahrairah and his children, and his children's children... come out of their holes and feed and play in his sight." "For they are his friends, and he has promised...." "Hazel." "That they can never be destroyed." "Hazel." "You know me, don't you?" "l don't." "Yes, my Lord." "I know you." "I've come to ask if you would like to join my Owsla." "We shall be glad to have you, and I know you'd like it." "You've been feeling tired, haven't you?" "If you're ready, we might go along now." "You needn't worry about them." "They'll be all right... and thousands like them." "If you'll come along, I'll show you what I mean." ""All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies." ""Whenever they catch you, they will kill you." ""But first, they must catch you..." ""digger, listener, runner." ""Prince with the swift warren." ""Be cunning..." ""and your people will never be destroyed. ""