The Hare and the Hedgehog

by The Brothers Grimm

　　This story, my dear young folks, seems to be false, but it really is true,for my grandfather, from whom I have it, used always, when relating it,to say complacently, "It must be true, my son, or else no one could tellit to you." The story is as follows. One Sunday morning about harvesttime, just as the buckwheat was in bloom, the sun was shining brightlyin heaven, the east wind was blowing warmly over the stubble-fields,the larks were singing in the air, the bees buzzing among the buckwheat,the people were all going in their Sunday clothes to church, and allcreatures were happy, and the hedgehog was happy too.

　　The hedgehog, however, was standing by his door with his arms akimbo,enjoying the morning breezes, and slowly trilling a little song tohimself, which was neither better nor worse than the songs which hedgehogsare in the habit of singing on a blessed Sunday morning. Whilst he wasthus singing half aloud to himself, it suddenly occurred to him that,while his wife was washing and drying the children, he might very welltake a walk into the field, and see how his turnips were going on. Theturnips were, in fact, close beside his house, and he and his familywere accustomed to eat them, for which reason he looked upon them as hisown. No sooner said than done. The hedgehog shut the house-door behindhim, and took the path to the field. He had not gone very far from home,and was just turning round the sloe-bush which stands there outside thefield, to go up into the turnip-field, when he observed the hare who hadgone out on business of the same kind, namely, to visit his cabbages. Whenthe hedgehog caught sight of the hare, he bade him a friendly goodmorning. But the hare, who was in his own way a distinguished gentleman,and frightfully haughty, did not return the hedgehog's greeting, butsaid to him, assuming at the same time a very contemptuous manner,"How do you happen to be running about here in the field so early inthe morning?" "I am taking a walk," said the hedgehog. "A walk!" saidthe hare, with a smile. "It seems to me that you might use your legsfor a better purpose." This answer made the hedgehog furiously angry,for he can bear anything but an attack on his legs, just because theyare crooked by nature. So now the hedgehog said to the hare, "You seemto imagine that you can do more with your legs than I with mine." "Thatis just what I do think," said the hare. "That can be put to the test,"said the hedgehog. "I wager that if we run a race, I will outstripyou." "That is ridiculous! You with your short legs!" said the hare,"but for my part I am willing, if you have such a monstrous fancy forit. What shall we wager?" "A golden louis-d'or and a bottle of brandy,"said the hedgehog. "Done," said the hare. "Shake hands on it, and thenwe may as well come off at once." "Nay," said the hedgehog, "there isno such great hurry! I am still fasting, I will go home first, and havea little breakfast. In half-an-hour I will be back again at this place."

　　Hereupon the hedgehog departed, for the hare was quite satisfied withthis. On his way the hedgehog thought to himself, "The hare relies onhis long legs, but I will contrive to get the better of him. He may bea great man, but he is a very silly fellow, and he shall pay for what hehas said." So when the hedgehog reached home, he said to his wife, "Wife,dress thyself quickly, thou must go out to the field with me." "What isgoing on, then?" said his wife. "I have made a wager with the hare, fora gold louis-d'or and a bottle of brandy. I am to run a race with him,and thou must be present." "Good heavens, husband," the wife now cried,"art thou not right in thy mind, hast thou completely lost thy wits? Whatcan make thee want to run a race with the hare?" "Hold thy tongue,woman," said the hedgehog, "that is my affair. Don't begin to discussthings which are matters for men. Be off, dress thyself, and come withme." What could the hedgehog's wife do? She was forced to obey him,whether she liked it or not.

　　So when they had set out on their way together, the hedgehog said tohis wife, "Now pay attention to what I am going to say. Look you, I willmake the long field our race-course. The hare shall run in one furrow,and I in another, and we will begin to run from the top. Now all thatthou hast to do is to place thyself here below in the furrow, and whenthe hare arrives at the end of the furrow, on the other side of thee,thou must cry out to him, 'I am here already!'"

　　Then they reached the field, and the hedgehog showed his wife her place,and then walked up the field. When he reached the top, the hare wasalready there. "Shall we start?" said the hare. "Certainly," said thehedgehog. "Then both at once." So saying, each placed himself in hisown furrow. The hare counted, "Once, twice, thrice, and away!" and wentoff like a whirlwind down the field. The hedgehog, however, only ranabout three paces, and then he stooped down in the furrow, and stayedquietly where he was. When the hare therefore arrived in full career atthe lower end of the field, the hedgehog's wife met him with the cry,"I am here already!" The hare was shocked and wondered not a little, hethought no other than that it was the hedgehog himself who was callingto him, for the hedgehog's wife looked just like her husband. The hare,however, thought to himself, "That has not been done fairly," and cried,"It must be run again, let us have it again." And once more he went offlike the wind in a storm, so that he seemed to fly. But the hedgehog'swife stayed quietly in her place. So when the hare reached the top of thefield, the hedgehog himself cried out to him, "I am here already." Thehare, however, quite beside himself with anger, cried, "It must be runagain, we must have it again." "All right," answered the hedgehog, "formy part we'll run as often as you choose." So the hare ran seventy-threetimes more, and the hedgehog always held out against him, and every timethe hare reached either the top or the bottom, either the hedgehog orhis wife said, "I am here already."

　　At the seventy-fourth time, however, the hare could no longer reach theend. In the middle of the field he fell to the ground, blood streamedout of his mouth, and he lay dead on the spot. But the hedgehog tookthe louis-d'or which he had won and the bottle of brandy, called hiswife out of the furrow, and both went home together in great delight,and if they are not dead, they are living there still.

　　This is how it happened that the hedgehog made the hare run races withhim on the Buxtehuder heath till he died, and since that time no harehas ever had any fancy for running races with a Buxtehuder hedgehog.

　　The moral of this story, however, is, firstly, that no one, howevergreat he may be, should permit himself to jest at any one beneath him,even if he be only a hedgehog. And, secondly, it teaches, that when aman marries, he should take a wife in his own position, who looks justas he himself looks. So whosoever is a hedgehog let him see to it thathis wife is a hedgehog also, and so forth.