The Story of Hare

Long ago the animals built a kraal and stored some fat in it. They agreed that one of them should stay behind as gatekeeper. The first to be chosen was Coney, the imbila. He agreed to keep watch, and all the others left. Before long Coney fell asleep, and the inkalimeva, a creature out of legend, went in and ate every bit of the fat. When it had finished, it tossed a small stone at Coney.

Coney jumped up and shouted, “The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!”

He shouted it over and over, very loudly. The animals heard him from far off and came running to the kraal, and when they saw the fat was gone, they killed Coney.

They stored fat in the kraal a second time and set Muishond, the ingaga, to guard the gate. Muishond agreed, and the animals went away as before. A little later the inkalimeva came to the kraal carrying some honey. It invited the gatekeeper to eat, and while Muishond was busy enjoying the honey, the inkalimeva slipped in and stole all the fat. Then it threw a stone at Muishond, which made him look up.

“The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!” cried Muishond.

As soon as the animals heard, they rushed to the kraal and killed him.

A third time they stored fat in the kraal, and this time Duiker, the impunzi, was made gatekeeper. Duiker agreed, and the rest went off. Soon the inkalimeva turned up and suggested a game of hide-and-seek. Duiker was willing. The inkalimeva hid, and Duiker searched and searched until he was so tired that he lay down and fell asleep. While he slept, the inkalimeva ate up all the fat.

Then it threw a stone at Duiker, who leapt up shouting, “The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!”

The animals heard and ran to the kraal and killed Duiker.

A fourth time they stored fat there and chose Bluebuck, the inputi, to keep the gate. When the animals had gone, the inkalimeva came as before.

“What are you doing here all alone?” it asked.

“I am guarding the fat that belongs to all the animals,” said Bluebuck.

“I’ll keep you company,” said the inkalimeva. “Come, let’s scratch each other’s heads.”

Bluebuck agreed. The inkalimeva sat down and scratched his head until he dozed off. Then it got up and ate all the fat, and when it was done, it threw a stone at Bluebuck and woke him.

Bluebuck saw what had happened and called out, “The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!”

The animals came running and killed Bluebuck too.

A fifth time they stored fat in the kraal and made Porcupine, the incanda, the gatekeeper. The animals left, and the inkalimeva came as before.

“Let’s run a race,” it said to Porcupine. It let Porcupine win.

“I never thought you could run so fast,” it said. “Let’s try again.” They ran again, and again it let Porcupine win. They kept racing until Porcupine was so worn out that he said, “Let’s have a rest now.”

They sat down to rest, and Porcupine fell asleep. Then the inkalimeva got up and ate all the fat. When it had eaten, it threw a stone at Porcupine, who jumped up.

“The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!” he shouted at the top of his voice.

The animals came running and put Porcupine to death.

A sixth time they stored fat in the kraal, and they chose Hare, the umvundla, to keep the gate. At first Hare refused.

“Coney is dead,” he said, “and Muishond is dead, and Duiker is dead, and Bluebuck is dead, and Porcupine is dead, and you will kill me as well.”

They promised not to kill him, and after a lot of coaxing he finally agreed to keep watch. When the others had gone, he lay down, but he was only pretending to sleep.

Soon the inkalimeva crept in, and it was just about to take the fat when Hare called out, “Leave that fat alone!”

“Please let me have just this little bit,” said the inkalimeva.

“Please let me have just this little bit,” Hare mimicked.

After that the two of them became companions. Hare suggested that they tie each other’s tails, and the inkalimeva agreed. The inkalimeva tied Hare’s tail first.

“Don’t tie my tail so tight,” said Hare.

Then Hare tied the inkalimeva’s tail.

“Don’t tie my tail so tight,” said the inkalimeva, but Hare said nothing. When he had bound its tail very firmly, Hare picked up his club and killed it. Then he took the inkalimeva’s tail and ate it, all except one small piece, which he hid in the fence.

Then he called out, “The fat that belongs to all the animals has been eaten by the inkalimeva!”

The animals came running back, and when they saw that the inkalimeva was dead, they were overjoyed. They asked Hare for its tail, which ought to be kept for the chief.

“The one I killed had no tail,” said Hare.

“Whoever heard of an inkalimeva without a tail?” they said.

They started searching, and in the end they found a piece of tail in the fence. They told the chief that Hare had eaten the tail.

“Bring him to me!” said the chief.

All the animals chased Hare, but he ran away and they could not catch him. He dived into a hole, and the animals set a snare at its mouth and went off. Hare stayed in the hole for many days, but at last he managed to get out without being caught.

He came to a place where Bushbuck, the imbabala, was building a hut. On the fire was a pot with meat in it.

“May I take this little piece of meat?” Hare asked.

“You must not,” said Bushbuck.

But Hare took the meat and ate the lot. Then he whistled in a special way, and a hailstorm came down and killed Bushbuck. Hare took Bushbuck’s skin and made himself a cloak from it.

After that Hare went into the forest to get himself some weapons to fight with. While he was cutting a stick, the monkeys pelted him with leaves. He called to them to come down and fight him. Down they came, and he killed them all with his weapons.

About this telling

“The Story of Hare” is from James A. Honey’s South-African Folk-Tales (1910). Honey gives each animal’s local name in brackets beside the English one, such as imbila for the coney, ingaga for the muishond and umvundla for the hare, and he explains that the inkalimeva is a fabulous animal.

The first part is a pattern tale: five gatekeepers, five different tricks and the same cry each time, until the sixth keeper turns the trick around. The ending is unusual, since Hare becomes a troublemaker himself and the story simply stops, with no moral given.

Read the original: Read “The Story of Hare” in Honey’s South-African Folk-Tales (Project Gutenberg)

For older readers: includes repeated executions of guards, killing with a club, a fatal hailstorm and the killing of a group of monkeys.

The repeated punishment solves nothing

Five guards die, but the animals repeat the same plan. Hare names that danger before agreeing to serve and secures a promise that they will not kill him. His successful trap exposes the weakness of simply replacing and punishing each keeper.

Success does not make him trustworthy. He conceals the tail, takes Bushbuck’s food and later kills others. The story stops without reform or a final punishment, so it cannot honestly be summarised as a hero learning his lesson.

Mark the turning points

List the six keepers and their outcomes. Under Hare’s row, continue the list beyond the victory over the inkalimeva. At what point does your description of him change, and which action causes that change? Separate skill from goodness in your answer.

Questions to ask

• What trick did the inkalimeva use on each gatekeeper?
• How was Hare’s plan different from what the other keepers did?
• Is Hare a hero by the end of the story? Why or why not?

Related stories

• Story Of Lion And Little Jackal — a trickster who keeps escaping
• The Dance For Water Or Rabbit’s Triumph — a rabbit trickster who escapes punishment
• How The Tortoise Got Its Shell — a West African trickster in trouble with the animals