Brother Rabbit and Brother Fox Go to Town

In the morning Brother Fox drove up to the crossroads in his wagon and shouted:

"Hallo!"

Brother Rabbit, who was waiting in the bushes, answered:

"Hallo!"

Brother Fox was sitting on the seat and his family were under the seat. Brother Rabbit put his family in the back end of the wagon and said:

"I shall sit here, Brother Fox."

Brother Fox whipped his horses and they all drove to town.

From time to time Brother Fox shouted:

"Is everything all right there, Brother Rabbit?"
"Everything is all right, Brother Fox!"

But all this time Brother Rabbit was sitting and untying his old woman and his children. He had seven children and soon he untied them all. Then he changed his place, and sat together with Brother Fox on the seat. He began to talk about the old times, and then they talked about the market and about the corn that they were going to have soon.

At that moment one of Brother Rabbit's children jumped out of the wagon.

Old Sister Fox, who was lying under the seat, saw this and cried out:

"One from seven
Doesn't leave eleven."

Brother Fox did not understand what she meant. He kicked her with his foot and told her to be quiet.

By and by another little Rabbit jumped out. Sister Fox said:

"One from six
Leaves me less kicks."

Brother Fox did not listen to her and continued to talk to Brother Rabbit, and Brother Rabbit talked to Brother Fox.

While they talked, Brother Rabbit's children jumped out of the wagon one after another.

And each time Sister Fox said something about it. This is what she said:

"One from five
Leaves four alive.
One from four
Leaves three and no more.
One from three
Leaves two to go free.
One from two
And there's little to do.
One from one
And that leaves none."

After some time Brother Fox looked around and did not see Brother Rabbit's family. He shouted:

"Hallo! What is this?"

And then he said:

"Brother Rabbit, where are your family?"

Brother Rabbit looked around and pretended to cry. He rubbed his eyes and cried: "Boo-hoo" Then he said:

"I knew it, Brother Fox, I knew it all the time. That's why I was afraid to leave my poor little children in the wagon with your family.

My children are all in your family's stomachs now. That's where they are, the poor little things."

Old Sister Fox said:

"I did not touch Brother Rabbit's children."

But Brother Fox did not believe her, because he was very hungry, and all the way he was thinking about those little Rabbits, and he wanted to eat them himself. He got very angry and he said to Sister Fox:

"You will get nothing more to eat from me, because to-day I shall get rid of you."

And when they came to town, he traded off all his family for corn.

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