it must be he ! Why , there is mud all over his face and paws ! ' The rabbit , frightened out of his wits , tried to deny the fact , exclaiming , ` Oh , no , indeed I never did ; ' but Big Lion would not listen , and commanded them to cane him with a birch rod . Now the little hare was very much pleased with his cleverness in causing the rabbit to be beaten instead of himself , and went about boasting of it . At last one of the other animals overheard him , and called out , ` Little hare , little hare ! what is that you are saying ? ' But the little hare hastily replied , ' I only asked you to pass me my stick . ' An hour or two later , thinking that no one was near him , he said to himself again , ` It was really I who drank up the water , but I made them think it was the rabbit . ' But one of the beasts whose ears were longer than the rest caught the words , and went to tell Big Lion about it . Do you hear what the little hare is saying ? ' So Big Lion sent for the little hare , and asked him what he meant by talking like that . The little hare saw that there was no use trying to hide it , so he answered pertly , ` It was I who drank the water , but I made them think it was the rabbit . ' Then he turned and ran as fast as he could , with all the other beasts pursuing him . They were almost 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 !
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