autumn passed and winter, and in the spring, when the days grew warm and sunny, the boy went out to play in the wood behind the house. and while he was playing, two rabbits crept out from the bracken and peeped at him. one of them was brown all over, but the other had strange markings under his fur, as though long ago he had been spotted, and the spots still showed through. and about his little soft nose and his round black eyes there was something familiar, so that the boy thought to himself: