Chapter 3
At Salamandastron, the ancient mountain of badgers and hares, allbeasts were sleeping, and Lord Ferral the Badger Lord was dreaming of a strange mouse in armor. The mouse spoke in a firm but kind voice.
"The hare of cups send on a quest,
With hares who argue but for the best,
To face the vermin of the night,
Not at night, but in bright light,
To the hole of the poisonous snakes,
Send the hares who tomorrow ache,
And now, I give you a warning,
Before summer there will be mourning,
For a badger, the Lord, The great Badger Lord,
Of Salamandastron."
The mouse faded away, and Ferral forgot the dream.
In the Mess Hall at breakfast, hares of all kinds at the table were eager for food and the dinner bell, and some hares had almost no patience and complained.
"I say, could you ring the jolly old scoff bell, eh wot?" asked the young hare Cupper.
"Do be quiet, young un, or no food an' straight to bed!" replied the old badger nurse Prall.
Cupper became the very role model for silence.
Drinng! The dinner bell rang.
Less than a second later, thirty hares were scoffing.
After another twenty seconds, the rest of the hares, Prall, and her three tiny badgerbabes were also eating.
"Pass the wort salad, would you?" said another young hare named Drepp. Wort salad was a salad made of about a dozen plants that end in -wort, for example motherwort, spiderwort, lungwort, sneezewort, and several others.
"Why? I'm superior to you," replied yet another young hare called Troblaw.
"For the last time, Troblaw, just because you're older doesn't mean you're superior to him! Besides, you're only a few days older," said Prall.
"Oh, fine," mumbled Troblaw and he passed the wort salad.
Right then, Lord Ferral came into the Mess Hall, and all hares came to attention.
"Wot is it, sah?" asked Field Sergeant Clatchworth. "Pay attention, you two!" he said to the two young hares Drepp and Troblaw, who were having a riddle contest and arguing about whose riddle was better.
"What are they doing, Clatch?" asked Ferral.
"Just a riddle contest, typical leveret stuff," replied Clatchworth. "Er, sah, wot is it?"
"I had a dream last night... there was a mouse in armor, and he said some sort of poem to me."
"If it was a poem, then we'd better write it down, wot?"
"Yes, we should. Prall?"
The badger nurse got a scroll and some charcoal.
"Your writing materials, Sire," she said mockingly.
Ferral laughed.
"Could you quit guffawing an' say the poem, so I can write it down?" asked Clatchworth.
"Alright, I'll say the poem, Clatch.
The hare of cups send on a quest,
With hares who argue but for the best,
To face the vermin of the night,
Not at night, but in bright light,
To the hole of the poisonous snakes,
Send the hares who tomorrow ache,
And now, I give you a warning,
Before summer there will be mourning,
For a badger, the Lord, The great Badger Lord,
Of Salamandastron."
"Hmm, seems like it's a riddle, not a poem," said Prall.
"Yes, I wonder who the hare of cups is," replied Ferral. "Maybe the cook?"
"No, he's too old, I know it m'self, said Clatchworth.
Prall appeared to be deep in thought. "Cups... hare... wait a second, I've got it!" she said.
"Then who is it? I'm confused," asked Ferral eagerly.
"Cupper!" replied Prall.
"Yes? Did I hear my name?" asked the hare.
"I need to talk to you in private," said Prall. "Come with me."
Cupper was led away to the old badger's bedroom.
"Am I in trouble?" asked Cupper.
"No. Instead, I need you to go on a quest!"
"What quest? Why?" he asked.
"Lord Ferral had a dream; it was of a mouse telling a riddle. The first line is 'The hare of cups send on a quest', and your name is Cupper, so you need to go on a quest!"
The young hare was taken aback.
"I'm sure you have tons of questions. Well, you're part of the riddle-solving club now, so come on!" said Prall.
The young hare and the old badger went to meet the others, paw in paw.