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Myths and Legends of the Great Plains

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<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>HOW RABBIT ESCAPED FROM THE WOLVES</h2> <p class="subtitle">Cherokee</p> <p><span class="dropcap">O</span>nce upon a time, Wolves caught Rabbit. They were going to eat him, but Rabbit said he would show them a new dance. Now the Wolves knew that Rabbit was a good dancer, so they made a ring around him.</p> <p>Rabbit pattered with his feet and began to dance around in a circle, singing,</p> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">On the edge of the field I dance about,</span><br/> <span class="i0"><i>Ha’ nia lil! lil! Ha’ nia lil! lil!</i></span><br/></div> </div> <p>Then the Rabbit stopped a minute. He said, “Now when I sing ‘on the edge of the field,’ I dance that way”—and he danced over in that direction; “and when I sing ‘<i>lil! lil!</i>’ you must all stamp your feet hard.”</p> <p>The Wolves liked that. They liked new dances.</p> <p>Rabbit began singing the same song, dancing nearer to the field, while all the Wolves stamped their feet. He sang the song again, dancing still nearer the edge <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</SPAN></span> of the field. The fourth time he sang it, while the Wolves were stamping their feet as hard as they could. Rabbit made one jump off and leaped through the long grass. The Wolves raced after him, but Rabbit ran for a hollow stump and climbed inside. When the Wolves got there, one of them put his head inside, but Rabbit hit him on the eye and he pulled his head out. The others were afraid to try, so they went away and left Rabbit in the stump.</p> <hr style="width: 45%;" /> <p><SPAN name="DRAGGING_BRUSH" id="DRAGGING_BRUSH"></SPAN></p> <div class="figcenter"> <SPAN href="images/mlgp22.jpg"> <ANTIMG src="images/mlgp22th.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="298" alt="" /></SPAN> <span class="caption">Plains Indians Dragging Brush for a Medicine Lodge</span></div> <p class="center"><i>By permission of Sumner W. Matteson, the photographer</i></p> <hr style="width: 45%;" /> <p><SPAN name="EARTH_LODGE" id="EARTH_LODGE"></SPAN></p> <div class="figcenter"> <SPAN href="images/mlgp23.jpg"> <ANTIMG src="images/mlgp23th.jpg" width-obs="400" height-obs="298" alt="" /></SPAN> <span class="caption">An Earth Lodge</span></div> <p class="center"><i>Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution</i></p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />

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