And at this thought the pangs of hunger made him feel quite sick with fear . But he need not have been afraid ; in every mesh of the net was a fine fat fish , and of course the net itself was so heavy that he could only lift one corner . He threw some of the fish back into the water , and buried some more in a hole under a stone , where he would be sure to find them . Then he rolled up the net with the rest , put it on his back and carried it home . The weight of the load caused his back to ache , and he was thankful to drop it outside their hut , while he rushed in , full of joy , to tell his grandmother . ` Be quick and clean them ! ' he said , ` and I will go to those people 's tents on the other side of the water . ' The old woman stared at him in horror as she listened to his proposal . Other people had tried to steal fire before , and few indeed had come back with their lives ; but as , contrary to all her expectations , he had managed to catch such a number of fish , she thought that perhaps there was some magic about him which she did not know of , and did not try to hinder him . When the fish were all taken out , he fetched the net which he had laid out to dry , folded it up very small , and ran down to the river , hoping that he might find a place narrow enough for him to jump over ; but he soon saw that it was too wide for even the best jumper in the world . For a few moments he stood there , wondering what was to be done , then there darted into his head some words of a spell which he had once heard a wizard use , while drinking from the river . He repeated them , as well as he could remember , and waited to see what would happen . In five minutes such a grunting and a puffing was heard , and columns of water rose into the air , though he could not tell what had made them . Then round the bend of the stream came fifteen huge whales , which he ordered to place themselves heads to tails , like stepping stones , so that he could jump from one to the other till he landed on the opposite shore . Directly he got there he told the whales that he did not need them any more , and sat down in the sand to rest . Unluckily some children who were playing about caught sight of him , and one of them , stealing softly up behind him , laid tight hold of his ears . The hare , who had been watching the whales as they sailed down the river , gave a violent start , and struggled to get away ; but the boy held on tight , and ran back home , as fast as he could go . ` Throw it in the pot , ' said the old woman , as soon as he had told his story ; ` put it in that basket , and as soon as the water boils in the pot we will hang it over the fire ! ' ` Better kill it first , ' said the old man ; and the hare listened , horribly frightened , but still looking secretly to see if there was no hole through which he could escape , if he had a chance of doing so . Yes , there was one , right in the top of the tent , so , shaking himself , as if with fright , he let the end of his net unroll itself a little . '
I wish that a spark of fire would fall on my net , ' whispered he ; and the next minute a great log fell forward into the midst XXXXX the tent , causing every one to spring backwards .
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