Chapter NINE - The Dying Light

There was a state of general confusion in the Honeycomb. Only a few of the rabbits present understood the significance of Vernal's name: the majority had no idea of the reason for Strawberry's sudden descent into a state bordering on the tharn, and, frightened and bewildered themselves, took some considerable calming down before it was possible for Hazel to ask Strawberry himself to come forward and explain.

"Now then, Strawberry," he said, "whatever did you mean by calling out Vernal's name like that, just as our friend here was about to introduce himself? You must know as well as I that this isn't Vernal."

"Oh, but I AM Vernal, Hazel-rah," came the quiet voice of the newcomer. "I've been trying to tell you that all this time. And yeah, I know this Strawb type - remember him from that embleer Shining Wire place, y'know."

Hazel was startled into silence by this news, and so it was Blackberry who spoke next.

"Vernal, we don't want to seem rude, but Strawberry here is convinced he saw your body, a long time ago. Maybe you could explain to us just how you got here?"

"Well, it's fair to say I've had a bit of the old luck on my side, so to speak. I've not had much experience as a hlessi, as you might imagine, and so staying out the way the Thousand's been summat of an overriding worry. Mind you, falling in with those does was a major stroke of luck - even if they did buzz off with that Flyairth type in the end."

There was more noise from the assembled rabbits at the mention of the burly doe's name, though this time with a noticeably more negative, even hostile, tone to it. Hazel and Hyzenthlay had done their best to ensure that Flyairth did not become an obsession with the rest of the warren, but it could not be denied that she had been the major cause of Watership's current lack of does, and even before Blackavar's death this had caused its share of minor scuffles and arguments. Flyairth's name had become almost a term of abuse in some quarters of the warren.

Bigwig spoke up.

"What we don't understand, Vernal, is - as Blackberry just said - Strawberry's seen you dead. How can you be dead and alive at the one time?"

"I'm really not at all certain what's gone on, you know," answered Vernal. "It really does seem a rum business, looking back on it. You see, I remember coming into the main hall of our warren - the old one, I mean - on my way to see my doe, Anisthimi, and all of a sudden I felt all my strength leave me. I'd been feeling tired lately, hadn't I?" - he glanced up at Strawberry, who had now recovered enough to signal his agreement - "so it wasn't all that surprising, but this time it was much worse, and I found that I couldn't move at all, or even speak."

Hazel noticed that Vernal's manner of speech had changed markedly since he began his story. Gone was the informal, almost silly attitude to the others, and in its place had appeared a determined seriousness. He said nothing of this, however, and allowed the other to continue.

"Then, the world started to disappear in front of my eyes. Not into black, but into a kind of shimmering gleam that hid everything else from view. There was no pain, but it was rather frightening, I can tell you, especially as I had no idea what was going on. I was half expecting the Black Rabbit to call out to me, to tell you the truth, but nothing of the sort happened.

"The next thing I knew, I was lying in what felt and smelt like an old burrow, but the queer thing was that there were no entrances at all, or if there were they'd long since filled in. Strange, I thought. Actually, it was almost as if the place had been deliberately stopped up-

"It had," interrupted Strawberry suddenly; and he explained.

"I see," resumed Vernal. "But what was odd about it was that all my fear and worry had left me, and I knew I could dig as well as any young rabbit. I could see a little, too, which was strange in such a blocked hole. So I began to make my way through the earth - don't ask me how I knew which was the right way to go, but I was certain of it - and before long I was out in the open. It can't have been very far from the warren, but I didn't recognise the countryside at all. I suppose that's what living in a place like that does to you. Still, I kept a close lookout for... for wires as I went.

"A little later on, I ran across an old buck lying in the grass, a strange white and brown blotchy colour, who had been badly wounded in the neck. I went up to him, and asked if I could help, but from the look he gave me I knew that he was near to death. However, before he died, he told me about how he had come to be there.

"This buck - Tulip, his name was - told me that he'd been a hutch rabbit, living in a box in an old shed at the corner of a farm. The farmer never came into this shed, though - it was a child who was the only human Tulip saw, and she would often only come very early in the morning, before dawn sometimes, or when the farmer was at the other end of the fields. This girl would bring flayrah for him, or pet him, or even play games with him.

"Of course, Tulip was rather lonely on his own, and sometimes he felt keenly his lack of a doe to keep him company, but the human girl was so kind to him, and would spend so much time with him stroking and cuddling him that he almost felt he could understand her, and after a while, so Tulip said, he decided that he didn't really want a doe any longer, as he was getting old and in any case the girl was such a good companion to him."

"So why didn't Tulip stay with the human child?" queried Silver.

"That's the awful part of it," replied Vernal. One day the girl was in the shed feeding Tulip, and the farmer came in behind her, and started shouting and waving his arms about. The girl shouted back, and then began to cry loudly. Of course Tulip had no idea what was going on, but then the man went outside for a moment - and returned with a shotgun."

The Honeycomb was now completely silent with shock, and in the moment before Vernal continued the wind could be heard in the beech trees far above.

"Anyway, when she realised what was happening, the girl screamed - and I don't know whether you've ever heard it, but a young human's scream is very similar to a rabbit's, you know - and then she ran over to stand in front of Tulip's hutch. The farmer shouted and waved his gun and pointed, but the girl wouldn't move."

"You mean that this human would have let herself be shot rather than Tulip?" asked Holly, in a somewhat disbelieving tone.

"Well, I don't think it would have come to that," said Vernal. "Humans don't shoot their own kittens. But she was clearly very upset, and the farmer was clearly very angry.

"Tulip said that, for reasons he could not understand, after a while both humans left, and then just the farmer returned, without his gun. He lifted up the hutch - with Tulip still inside - and put it in the back of his hrududu, which he then drove for a long time up the road, after which he put it down on the grass and tipped Tulip out, before driving back the way he had come.

"He was a hutch rabbit, of course: had never been free, so had no idea how to cope in the open world-

"A bit like me," said Clover softly from the floor.

"-and so when a hunting stoat came along, he never realised it until it was on top of him. He managed to fend it off in the end, but not before it had given him a great wound along his throat. He was just beginning to tell me about how he'd fared since when a sudden choking fit took hold of him, and I knew it was the end. His last words were, 'I shall wait for her' - I don't know why."

"I do," said Dandelion, who had remained silent until now. "It's a story I heard a long, long time ago from a hlessi, but I'd always thought he was quite mad until now.

"You see, there was a time when El-ahrairah was separated from his warren, and even from his faithful servant Rabscuttle, and captured by men. And he was shut up in a hutch with another rabbit. The men weren't cruel to them, but they made very certain every night that the hutch was secure, and so El-ahrairah had no option but to stay, and to make friends with the other rabbit, a doe called Anisthimi*. And with a human boy, who - just like the farmer's daughter who was so good to Tulip - spent a long time every day with the rabbits, and treated them with love and respect.

"Of course, El-ahrairah being El-ahrairah, he was so charming to Anisthimi that they became mates, and before very long she was pregnant. But when the time for kindling came, it soon became clear that something was terribly wrong, and Anisthimi was in awful pain. El-ahrairah tried all he could, but it was no use, and both doe and kittens were soon dead.

"Shortly afterwards, the boy came into the building where the hutch was kept, and - again, just like the girl Tulip knew - started to cry. He took out the body of Anisthimi and held her against him, not caring about her blood running down his face and mingling with his own tears as he gently stroked her sodden fur.

"El-ahrairah was so touched by this that he appealed to Frith. 'My Lord,' he said, 'must there be such sadness and despair in the world of men and in the world of rabbits when they are torn asunder?'

"'What is, is what must be,' came Lord Frith's expected answer. 'But I will show mercy upon you, El-ahrairah, for you have shown yourself to be a rabbit of compassion and feeling. I will command Prince Rainbow to build a shining bridge between the other-world of the Men - for they have one as well, El-ahrairah - and the other-world of the Rabbits. And not only rabbits, El-ahrairah, for there are humans who care for cats, dogs, birds and many other animals as though they were their own heart-brothers.

"'The other-worlds themselves must forever remain closed to each other's species, for that was never meant to be. But when an animal dies who has been a friend of a human, then in time unknown and unknowable, they may meet again in death as they did in life, there upon Prince Rainbow's Bridge.'"

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* Anisthimi - "daughter of the wind"