The Tale of Mark the Bunny | Page 2

Ralph said. "He just looks kind of sad."
"I don't know," Lenny said. "I'm afraid."
"I'm afraid too," Sophie said. "We're bunnies. We're always afraid. But sometimes we have to do the right thing, even when it's scary."
"And what exactly are you saying, in this case, the right thing might be?" Lenny asked.
"There's wolves around this time of year. We can't let him wander around all night without a burrow to stay in."
"Actually we could, if we wanted to..."
"Lenny..."
"Okay, okay, I'll go ask him."
Lenny hopped carefully over toward Mark. "Um, hi," Lenny said.
Mark nodded.
"My wife," Lenny said, "er, that is, we, wanted to know if maybe you needed a place to stay tonight? Of course if you have someplace else, that would be perfectly fine and we wouldn't feel in the least insulted if you turned us down."
"No, Mark said, "I don't have a place. That's very kind of you."
"We've got some strawberries we've been saving," little Ralph said, bounding up. "They're kind of small, but you could have one."
"I do love strawberries," Mark said. "But you'll have to let me do something for you in return."
"How come?" Ralph said.
"That's just my philosophy."
"What's a philosophy?"
"Well," Mark said, "I guess it's just some ideas about life."
"Oh. Why don't you just say 'ideas about life,' then?"
"Ralph," Sophie said, "you're being rude."
"Sorry," Ralph said.
That evening, after sharing the strawberries, the four bunnies lay happily on the floor of the burrow. "Tell me some more about this philosophy of yours," Sophie said. Sophie was always interested in new things.
"You mean my ideas about life?" Mark asked. Ralph laughed at that and Mark wiggled his whiskers and went on. "Really I just have this one idea. I've thought about it a lot and got it down to the simplest words I could."
"So what is it?" Lenny asked.
Mark sat up and spoke in a deep voice, clearly liking the sound of the words as they came out. "'Give what you can. Take what you need."
"Is that what got you in trouble at Clearwater Pond?" Sophie asked.
"Actually most people seemed to like my idea, once they thought about it. There was just this one very well-off bunny named Sophocles who got upset, and told everybody I was dangerous."
"Are all rich bunnies mean?" Ralph asked.
"I've traveled around quite a bit," Mark said, "and I've seen rich bunnies who were very kind and generous. I've also seen quite a few who did tend to be a bit selfish."
"So are you saying," Sophie asked, "that if we get hungry enough it's okay to take some of Big Al's food?"
"Only if Big Al had already given up what he could for you to take from. Everybody has to agree. That's the hard part, of course, for those that have more than enough to give some of it up."
"It's hard to think about," Lenny said. "It scares me."
"Bunnies are always afraid," Sophie said. "But sometimes..."
"I know," Lenny said. "I know." He thought for a while. "Do you think if all of us put all our food together--except for Big Al, of course--we'd have enough to get us through the drought?"
"I don't think so," Sophie said.
Mark shrugged his shoulders and lay down again. "That's where the luck part comes in."
*
Mark left before the others got up the next morning. When little Ralph went outside he found something very strange and called for his parents to come look. It seemed Mark had chewed some of the leaves off a nearby hawthorn bush and stuck some new branches where there hadn't been any before. Sophie, Lenny, and Ralph all looked at it for a while.
"You know," Lenny said, "it almost looks like...nah. Couldn't be."
"Looks like what?" Sophie said. She was finishing her morning grooming, licking her front paws and then rubbing them over her big, silky ears.
"Well, except for being green and everything, don't you think it looks a bit like Ralph?"
"I think it looks a lot like Ralph," Sophie said.
"Why would somebody make a tree look like a bunny?" Lenny asked.
"I think it's called 'art,'" Sophie said.
"'Art,'" Lenny said. "No doubt about it. That was one weird bunny."
"I liked him," Ralph said.
"Me, too," said Sophie."
"I don't know," Lenny said. "I lay awake for a long time last night thinking about his--" He looked at Ralph. "--ideas about life, and this morning my head hurts. Now I look at this 'art' thing and it makes my head hurt too." Slowly he reached up with his rear leg to scratch under his chin. "Okay," he said, "maybe it hurts in a nice kind of way."
*
They all went back to the village that morning to talk some more about the drought. Everyone seemed a little crankier and a little thirstier than the day before.
"Everyone should just eat less," the Reverend Billy said.
"Some of us aren't eating much at all