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THE RABBIT'S EYES One day
while swimming around in the waters outside his palace, the king of the
fishes
saw something hanging in the water that looked as if it were good to
eat. So at
once His Majesty gulped it down, when, oh horrors! he found
he had barely escaped swallowing a fish hook, which stuck fast in his
gills. It
had been baited by some fishermen up in a boat on the sea top. When the
king of
the fishes found the dreadful thing in his mouth, he jerked himself
away. The
line broke but the hook remained, giving the king a fever and much
pain. How to get
the iron out and heal His Majesty was now the question. All the wise
creatures
in the ocean, from the turtle to the gudgeon and from the tittleback to
the
whale, were summoned to the palace to see what could be done. Many a
sage
noddle was bent, and eye blinked and fin wagged, as the marine doctors
talked
the matter over in the council. The turtle was considered the most
learned and
expert of them all. Many were his feelings of the king's pulse and his
lookings
down into his throat, before Dr. Turtle would pronounce what was the
real
trouble or write a prescription for his
patient.
Finally, after consultation with the other doctors that had fins and
tails, or
were in scales and shell, it was decided that nothing less than a
poultice made
of rabbits' eyes would loosen the hook and end His Majesty's troubles. So Dr.
Turtle was ordered to go to the seashore and invite a rabbit to come
down into
the world under the sea, that they might make a poultice of his eyes
and apply
the warm mess to the king's throat. Arriving
on the sea beach, at the foot of a high hill, Dr. Turtle, looking far
up, found
Mr. Rabbit out of his burrow and taking a promenade along the edge of
the
forest. Forthwith Dr. Turtle waddled across the beach and part way up
the hill,
climbing hard, until he began to puff and blow. He had enough breath
left,
however, to salute Brother Bunny with a good-morning. Very politely the
rabbit
returned the greeting. "It's
a hot day," said Dr. Turtle, as he pulled out his handkerchief, wiped
his
horny forehead, and cleaned the sand out of his claws. "Yes,
but the scenery is so fine, Dr. Turtle, that you must be glad you're
out of the
water to see such lovely mountains. Don't you think Korea is a fine
country?
There is no land in the world so beautiful as ours. The mountains, the
rivers,
the seashore, the forests, the flowers —
" If Dr.
Turtle had let the rabbit run on, praising his own country, he would
have
forgotten his errand; but, thinking of His Majesty, the suffering fish
king,
with the cruel hook in his mouth, Dr. Turtle interrupted Bunny, saying:
"Oh,
yes, Brother Bunny, this view of the landscape and country is all very
beautiful, but it can't compare to the gems and jewels, trees and
flowers,
sweet odors and everything lovely down in the world under the sea." At this,
the rabbit pricked up his ears. It was all new to him. He had never
heard that
there was anything under the water but common fishes and seaweed and
when these
were decayed and washed up along the seashore — well, he had his ideas
about
them. They did not smell sweet at all. Now, he heard a different story.
His
curiosity was roused. "What you tell me, my friend, is interesting. Go
on." Thereupon
Dr. Turtle proceeded to tell of most wonderful mountains and valleys
down on
the floor of the deep sea, with every kind of rare water plants, red,
orange-color, green, blue, white, with trees of gold and silver,
besides
flowers of every color and delightful perfume. "You
surprise me," said Brother Bunny, getting more interested. "Yes,
and all sorts of good things to eat and drink, with music and dancing,
handsome
serving maids and everything nice. Come along and be our guest. Our
king has
sent me to invite you." "May
I go?" asked Brother Bunny, delighted. "Yes,
at once. Get on my back and I'll carry you." So the
rabbit ran and the turtle waddled to the water's edge. "Now
hold fast to my front shell," said Dr. Turtle; "we're going under the
water." Down, down
below the blue waves they sank until they arrived at the king's palace.
There
the rabbit found everything was true, as told by the turtle. The
colors, the
rich gems were as he had said. Dr. Turtle
introduced Brother Bunny to some of the princes and princesses of the
kingdom
and these showed their guest the sights and treasures of the palace,
while Dr.
Turtle attended the council of doctors to announce the success of his
errand. But while
Mr. Rabbit was enjoying himself, thinking this was the most wonderful
place in
the world, he overheard them talking. Then he found out why they had
brought
him there and shown him such honors. Horrified at the idea of losing
his eyes,
he determined to save his sight and play the tortoise a smart trick.
However,
of this he told no one. So when he
was politely informed by the royal executioners that he must give up
his eyes
to make the king well, Brother Bunny broke out with equally polite
regrets: "Really
I am so sorry that His Majesty is ill, and you must excuse me that I
cannot
help him immediately, for the eyes I have in my head now are not real
eyes, but
only crystal. I was afraid that sea water would hurt my sight, so I
took out my
ordinary eyes, buried them in the sand and put on these crystal ones,
which I
usually wear in very dusty or wet weather." At this
the faces of the royal officers fell. How could they break the news to
His
Majesty and disappoint him? Brother
Bunny seemed to be really sorry for them and spoke up. "Oh I
don't feel bad about it. If you will allow me to return to the beach,
I'll dig
them up and return in time for the poultice-making," said the rabbit. So,
getting on Dr. Turtle's back, Brother Bunny was soon out of the water
and on
land. In a jiffy
he jumped off, scampered away, and reached the woods, showing only his
cotton
tail. Soon he was out of sight. Dr. Turtle shed tears and returned to tell how a rabbit had outwitted him. |