but the shining of the river, and the dark shadows of the trees;
nothing was to be heard but the hum of the insects, as they
darted through the night.

[Adapted from Folklore Bresilien.]




The Cunning Hare



In a very cold country, far across the seas, where ice and snow
cover the ground for many months in the year, there lived a
little hare, who, as his father and mother were both dead, was
brought up by his grandmother. As he was too young, and she was
too old, to work, they were very poor, and often did not have
enough to eat.

One day, when the little fellow was hungrier than usual, he asked
his grandmother if he might go down to the river and catch a fish
for their breakfast, as the thaw had come and the water was
flowing freely again. She laughed at him for thinking that any
fish would let itself be caught by a hare, especially such a
young one; but as she had the rheumatism very badly, and could
get no food herself, she let him go. 'If he does not catch a
fish he may find something else,' she said to herself. So she
told her grandson where to look for the net, and how he was to
set it across the river; but just as he was starting, feeling