Then he
saw that he had been a fool and cheated by magic, and in a rage swore
again by his teeth, as well as his tail, that the Rabbit should die.
There was no hut now, only the trampled snow and a spruce twig, and yet
out of this little, Rabbit had conjured up so great a delusion.
Then he ran again all day. And when night came, Master Rabbit, having a
little more time than before, again trampled down the snow, but for a
greater space, and strewed many branches all about, for now a huge
effort was to be made. And when Wild Cat got there he found a great
Indian village, with crowds of people going to and fro. The first
building he saw was a church, in which service was being held. And he,
entering, said hastily to the first person he saw, "Ha! ho! have you
seen a Rabbit running by here?"
"Hush--sh, sh!" replied the man. "You must wait till meeting is over
before asking such questions." [Footnote: Though this story is very
old, the incident of the church (_sogmoye wigwam_, or chief house)
is manifestly modern.] Then a young man beckoned to him to come in, and
he listened till the end to a long sermon on the wickedness of being
vindictive and rapacious; and the preacher was a gray ancient, and his
ears stood up over his little cap like the two handles of a pitcher,
yet for all that the Wild Cat's heart was not moved one whit. And when
it was all at an end he said to the obliging young man, "But
_have_ you seen a Rabbit running by?"
"Rabbits! Rabbits!" replied the young man.
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