Romance of the Rabbit | Page 8

wintry dawns have made fragrant. More than once have I
satisfied my hunger with it during these disastrous days when the briars
have turned into rose-colored crystals, and when the agile wagtail utters
its shrill cry toward the larvae which its beak can no longer reach
beneath the ice along the banks. I shall continue to gnaw these barks.
For, Oh Francis, I do not wish to die with these gentle friends who are
in their agony, but rather I wish to live beside you and obtain my
sustenance from the bitter fiber of the trees."
* * * * *
Therefore because the country of each of them was a different land
where each could dwell only by himself, Rabbit's companions chose
not to separate, but to die together in this land harrowed by winter.
One evening the doves which had become like dead leaves fell from the
branch on which they were perched, and the wolf closed his eyes on
life, his muzzle resting on the sandal of Francis. For two days his neck
had been so weak that it could no longer support his head, and his spine
had become like the branch of a bramble bespattered with mud,
shivering in the wind. His master kissed him on the forehead.
Then the lamb, the sheep-dogs, the hawks, the owl, and the ewe gave

up their souls, and finally also the little spaniel whom Rabbit in vain
had sought to keep warm. She passed away wagging her tail, and it
grieved stubble-colored Rabbit so much that it took until the following
day before he could touch the bark of the oaks again.
* * * * *
And in the midst of the world's desolation Francis prayed, his forehead
on his clenched hand, just as in an excess of sorrow a poet feels his soul
escaping him once more.
Then he addressed him of the cleft lip.
"Oh Rabbit, I hear a voice which tells me that you must lead these (and
he pointed to the bodies of the animals) to Eternal Blessedness. Oh
Rabbit, there is a Paradise for beasts, but I know it not. No man will
ever enter it. Oh Rabbit, you must guide thither these friends, whom
God has given me and whom he has taken away. You are wise among
all, and to your prudence I commit these friends."
The words of Francis rose toward the brightening sky. The hard azure
of winter gradually became limpid. And under this returning gladness,
it seemed as if the graceful spaniel were about to raise her supple,
silken ears again. "Oh my friends who are dead," said Francis, "are you
really dead, since I alone am conscious of your death? What proof can
you give to sleep that you are not merely slumbering? Is the fruit of the
clematis asleep or is it dead when the wind no longer ruffles the
lightness of its tendrils? Perhaps, Oh wolf, it is merely that there is no
longer sufficient breath from on high for you to raise your flanks; and
for you, doves, to make you expand like a sigh; and for you, sheep, to
cause your lamentations by their sweetness to augment even the
sweetness of flooded pastures; and for you, owl, to reawaken your
sobbing, the plaint of the amorous night itself; and for you, hawks, to
rise soaring from the earth; and for you, sheep-dogs, to have your
barking mingle once more with the sound of the sluices; and for you,
spaniel, to have exquisite understanding born again, that you may play
with Rabbit again?"
* * * * *
Suddenly Rabbit made a leap into the azure from the molehill where he
had lain down, and did not drop back. And lightly as if he were passing
over a meadow of blue clover he made a second bound into space, into
the realm of the angels.

He had hardly completed this second leap when he saw the little spaniel
by his side, and joyously he asked her:
"Aren't you really dead, then?"
And skipping toward him she replied:
"I do not understand what you are saying to me. My noonday sleep
to-day was peaceful and bright."
Then Rabbit saw that the other animals were following him into the
void, while Francis was journeying along another heavenly pathway,
indicating to the wolf by means of signs with his hand to put his trust in
Rabbit. And the wolf with docility and peace in his heart felt Faith
come over him again. He continued on his way with his friends, after a
long look toward his master, and knowing that for those who are
chosen there is something divine even in the final adieu.
* * * * *
They left winter behind them. They were astonished at