the Rabbit

Also known as: Rabbit · Role: the boldest leader among the animals, a trickster · First appears: Myth 16 · The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting

In Myth 16, the Rabbit deceived the Otter by pretending he could swim and eat fish like him, then caught a duck with a noose. The duck flew off with him hanging on, and he fell into a hollow stump, where he stayed until he was starving. After several days, he escaped by tricking the people cutting him out: “Cut it larger, so you can see me better; I'm so pretty.”

In Myth 17, the Rabbit tricked the Otter into the river with hot coals, took his coat, and wore it to the council. the Bear exposed him, pulled off his tail, and the Rabbit escaped. In Myth 18 he plotted a trick against the Possum, arranging for the Cricket to clip the Possum’s tail. In Myth 19, after the Wildcat caught him, the Rabbit bargained for his life by offering to lead him to turkeys; he later told the Turkeys that the Wildcat lay dead. In Myth 20, he raced the Terrapin over their dispute about speed, offered him a head start, and lost; exhausted, he fell to the ground.

In Myth 21, the Rabbit was caught stealing water at a well, then escaped when the animals unfastened him from the tar wolf. In the second version of Myth 21, the hare was caught by the wolf and the fox, but escaped after they let her loose. In Myth 22, the Rabbit’s false announcement of a council order led the animals to take mates, and he got a wife; he also announced that war had been ordered and escaped as the fighting began. In Myth 23, after inviting the Bear to dinner, he cut his side trying to get grease and nearly died; the Bear tied up his wound and stopped the bleeding. In Myth 24, the Rabbit escaped from the Wolves by tricking them with a song, then hid in a hollow stump and spat into one Wolf’s eye.

In Myth 25, the Rabbit, “the boldest leader among them,” offered to go after Flint. He struck Flint with a stake, and Flint exploded into pieces that cut the Rabbit’s back and split his lip. In Myth 26, he secretly cleared a road through the thicket for a race with the Deer, but the animals gave the horns to the Deer and told the Rabbit to cut bushes for a living. In Myth 27, the Rabbit tricked the Deer into striking an uncut grapevine, then filed down his teeth. In Myth 28, the Deer conjured a stream into a large river, leaving the Rabbit stranded on the other side.