The Tale of the: Old Hunter and the Golden Hare

There once lived an old man and his goodwife
On the edge of the thick of the woods;
They lived in an old run-down shack
For forty-years and some.
The old man hunted for his living,
And his wife sewed on her lap.

He once was hunting in the woods,
The marshes were high with game
When the waters rise, many animals die
And he thought (as always), ‘Such a shame.’
Well, this day he saw a Golden Hare,

‘No common hare,’ thought he.
Stranded on a mud bare little isle
So he quickly grabbed the hare by the ears,
To save it, if you please.

Now the Golden Hare started to examine him,
And it spoke like a human being:
“Let me go, old man, back in the woods—
I will give you most anything!”

The old man was surprised and scared,
For he had never heard of a hare talking.
So gently by its ears, he put the hare down
And kindly said, as he did so:
“God be with you, my lovely little Golden Hare!
And thank you—but, I want for anything;
Go back to your home in the woods,
And roam free as you normally would.”

But the hare stood stone-still, shaking,
Too weak was she—I’ll have you know—:
Thus, into his sack, the old man put her
And brought her back to his home.

There he dried the hare, gave her food,
And he said: “Now go—before night!”
And thus, the hare was gone for good.

To his wife, the old hunter was cautious
To tell her about the talking, Golden Hare,
And so he explained: “I caught this hare
Stranded, and thought to set her free—
Whereupon, she promised me, most anything;
But like a good Christian, I simply said
‘God be with you… [and] I need nothing.’

Thereupon, his wife reprimanded her husband:
“You old fool…you big stupid man!
You might have asked for a sewing machine!
Now go find the hare and ask!”

The old man turned to the woods,
Where the morning was flickering light.
And off he went, calling out to the Golden Hare.
And the Golden Hare appeared, behind a bush,
“What is it, old man, what is your wish?”
With his eyes cast down, the old man answered:
“I am sad to say, Most Beautify Hare~!
But my old woman scorned me utterly—
Bothers me every second of the day,
She says she wants a sewing machine.”

The Golden Hare mumbled in reply:
“So be it, go home old man, be at peace,
For you wife will soon have it.”

And behold, when the old man arrived home,
His wife was laughing, by a sewing machine.
But she screamed at her husband evermore:
“You silly old man, go back and ask for a farmhouse!”

And again he went back to the woods,
But this time the rain was pouring,
He called out to the Golden Hare,
And the Golden Hare appeared again, saying:
“Now what is it old man, what is your wish?”
“It never ends; forgive me, but my wife…
Now wants a farmhouse.”
The Golden Hare mumbled in answer:
“As you desire, go home and you’ll have it~!”

And when he arrived back home,
His shack was replaced by a farmhouse.
Oh yes, even with a huge towering silo.
And there sat his old wife by the window.

But the old woman was still hungry with greed
Told her husband, “Go back and ask for money!
Perhaps a ton of gold, she will give to you!”

And the old hunter did as she asked,
Hollered out for the Golden Hare to appear
And although the hare appeared, said nothing,
She listened angrily as the old man begged:
“Forgiven me of my wife’s greed, but now she Wants a ton of gold, or just a lot of money.”
The hare just whoosh its golden ears
And vanished back into the woods.

When the husband arrived back home—
Behold, his old wife was like before,
Sitting by their old broken down shack
Sewing an old shirt, on her lap, bored.

#769 7/11/05

Poet/Author Dennis Siluk http://dennissiluk.tripod.com