Friday, January 11, 2008

Watership Down

The two rabbits went up to the board at a hopping run and crouched in a patch of nettles on the far side, wrinkling their noses at the smell of a dead cigarette end somewhere in the grass. Suddenly Fiver shivered and cowered down.
"Oh hazel! This is where it comes from! I know now–something very bad! Some terrible thing–coming closer and closer." 
He began to whimper with fear.
"What sort of thing–what do you mean? I thought you said there was no danger?"
"I don't know what it is," answered Fiver wretchedly. "There isn't any danger here at the moment. But it's coming–it's coming. Oh, Hazel, look! The field! It's covered with blood!" 
– Watership Down by Richard Adams

When I was a young doe I watched an animated movie about rabbits, but other than being frightened of what took place, I couldn't remember a single thing about it, let alone its title. Something as an adult must have sparked my memory of this story because I became intrigued in finding it. Years passed and my memory continued to fail me, so I gave up on finding the story. Many years had passed when I started noticing a book in my favorite book store. Each time I went in it seemed to be displayed prominently for me to see, even though it was an older paperback. Finally I picked it up one day and discovered that long lost bunny tale that I had been searching for since childhood. 
Whether you remember it from your younger years, or you've never heard the tale of this group of daring rabbits, it's a must read. In fact I think it's better as an adult as it's not so scary. Although I did question the motives of a rather brave front yard rabbit the other day… 


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