up to him when he dashed into a very narrow cleft in
the rock, much too small for them to follow; but in his hurry he had
left one of his long ears sticking out, which they just managed to
seize. But pull as hard as they might they could not drag him out of the
hole, and at last they gave it up and left him, with his ear very much
torn and scratched.

When the last tail was out of sight the little hare crept cautiously
out, and the first person he met was the rabbit. He had plenty of
impudence, so he put a bold face on the matter, and said, 'Well, my good
rabbit, you see I have had a beating as well as you.'

But the rabbit was still sore and sulky, and he did not care to talk, so
he answered, coldly, 'You have treated me very badly. It was really you
who drank that water, and you accused me of having done it.'

'Oh, my good rabbit, never mind that! I've got such a wonderful secret
to tell you! Do you know what to do so as to escape death?'

'No, I don't.'

'Well, we must begin by digging a hole.'

So they dug a hole, and then the little hare said, 'The next thing is to
make a fire in the hole,' and they set to work to collect wood, and lit
quite a large fire.

When it was burning brightly the little hare said to the rabbit,
'Rabbit, my friend, throw me into the fire, and when you hear my fur
crackling, and I call "Itchi, Itchi," then be quick and pull me out.'

The rabbit did as he was told, and threw the little hare into the fire;
but no sooner did the little hare begin to feel the heat of the flames
than he took some green bay leaves he had plucked for the purpose and
held them in the middle of the fire, where they crackled and made a
great noise. Then he called loudly 'Itchi, Itchi! Rabbit, my friend, be
quick, be quick! Don't you hear how my skin is crackling?'

And the rabbit came in a great hurry and pulled him out.

Then the little hare said, 'Now it is your turn!' and he threw the
rabbit in the fire. The moment the rabbit felt the flames he cried out
'Itchi, Itchi, I am burning; pull me out quick, my friend!'

But the little hare only laughed, and said, 'No, you may stay there! It
is your own fault. Why were you such a fool as to let yourself be thrown
in? Didn't you know that fire burns?' And in a very few minutes nothing
was left of the rabbit but a few bones.

When the fire was quite out the little hare went and picked up one of
these bones, and made a flute out of it, and sang this song:

Pi