The
missing bunny Haseputz
By Joana
Angelides
The
forest sprite leaned on his spade, with which he was digging a deep hole. He
wanted to make a rain shelter in front of his home, at the foot of the big oak
tree. Whenever it rained and the water ran down the trunk, his living room was
under water. He had to put up two stands
and the spider Arachne had promised him to spin a very tight web that would
then be stretched over it to let the water run off.
He
wiped the sweat from his forehead with a fern leaf. It was hard work.
Then
the little vole Polly came along and looked into the hole that had already been
dug.
"Shall
I help you?" She asked.
"Yes,
can you help me?"
"Yes,
go away."
She
turned around so that she was facing her little bottom towards the goblin and
began to dig a hole very quickly with her front paws. This was done very
quickly, but the earth threw her behind and unfortunately, when she opened up
between the roots, all the earth flew into the little goblin's living room
without him being able to notice.
He
watched quite fascinated how fast it went. But only until he heard his wife's
shrill voice from the living room.
"Help,
stop, what's that?" She rushed out of the root hole, blowing the earth
away from her robe and hair, wringing her hands.
"Oh,"
said the vole, "I'm so sorry, I wanted to help."
Mrs
Goblin took the little broom that was leaning against the door and ran after
Polly the vole. But she was much faster than her and disappeared under the
leaves and was gone.
Mrs.
Kobold now began to sweep the living room with the broom, scolding terribly.
But
what was that? She stopped and listened outside.
Outside
stood Mrs. and Mr. Hare. Mrs Rabbit was crying terribly and Mr Rabbit had his
left spoon, that's what rabbits' ears are called, leaning against hers.
"Our
Haseputz, our youngest is nowhere to be found." Sobs Mrs Hare.
"When
did you last see him?" Asked Mrs Owl, drawn in by Mrs Rabbit's sobs.
"This
morning, he was going to forest school, wasn't he?"
"Well,
he wasn't at school today, I put it in the class register." Said Mrs Owl
very firmly and put on her glasses and eyed the bunny parents.
"Something
must have happened to him." Said Birr the snake then, dropping from his
branch to the ground.
"Ohweh!"
Cried the squirrel, quite startled, and once again dropped a hazelnut.
The
wailing also drew in some fairies and the two elves Mo and Feno, the gatekeeper
from the castle, who was off duty today.
"What
happened?" Asked Mo
He
listened to the wailing of the mother hare and then asked:
"So
does Haseputz always go the same way to school? Or does he go a different way
some of the time?"
"No,
he always goes the same way, that's what we taught him." Said the rabbit's
father firmly.
"So
come on, we have to look for him, all of you follow me!" Mo turned and
made a motion with his left hand, they were to follow him.
Now
they all walked single file, one behind the other, to the Hare family's hole in
the ground. Here Mo stood and said to Mr Hare:
"So
now show me the way to school from Haseputz."
The
father went first and everyone followed him. Mo went first, then Feno the
gatekeeper, behind him the fairies Fari and Silja, Mr. and Mrs. Kobold, the
squirrel, the frog from the lake, the snake Birr and even the little vole Polly
dared to come out of her hiding place again. Her little nose went back and
forth restlessly with curiosity.
The
magpie also flew from tree to tree behind the caravan, always on the lookout
for something glittering. The woodpecker had already flown ahead, hoping to
find Haseputz and then to let him know with a loud knock.
Everyone
shouted: "Haseputz! Haseputz!"
Then
they listened again to see if they heard anything. But nothing.
They
had been walking for a while, they were almost at the school when Mo made a
commanding gesture with his hand. He had heard something. It was coming from
the stream below them, flowing between the rocks to the lake.
He
ran quickly to the sloping bank and there he saw Haseputz.
He
had apparently fallen down or slipped and got stuck on a large tree root. He
was holding on with his front legs and hanging down with his hind legs. He must
have been hanging like that for a long time, because only a very soft
whimpering sound could be heard. Mr and Mrs Hare breathed a sigh of relief when
they saw their youngest down there again. They ran excitedly up and down the
slope.
"Hello
Haseputz, we are already there. Hold on tight, we'll get you up there!" Mo
called down to the little bunny. But he didn't know if Haseputz could hear him.
"How
are you going to do that?" asked the fairy Fari.
Mo
propped his head up in both hands and thought.
"Where
is the big brown bear?"
"In
his cave!" Everyone exclaimed.
"Go
get him, he has to help us there. Only he can get down there and bring up the
bunny."
"I'll
get him," cried the magpie, and flew back into the forest.
The
little bunny's whimpering became quieter and quieter and his parents became
frightened.
Then
the forest fairy Fari flew down to him. From above, we could see her talking to
Haseputz and encouraging him to hold out a little longer. She also flew all the
way down to the water and scooped up some water with her little hands and
dripped it between his lips.
"Where
is Haseputz?" The big bear could be heard trudging through the forest from
afar and his call echoed all the way to those waiting.
"Here, here!" Shouted everyone
again.
"Aha"
said the bear and came closer. He looked down at the bunny and the forest
fairy.
Then he
held on to the tree at the edge of the precipice with one paw and with the
other paw he reached down to the root and brought up the little rabbit and laid
it carefully on a little moss cushion.
Everyone
clapped their hands and rushed over immediately. But Mrs Hare chased them all
away and sniffed at Hareputz from all sides to make sure nothing had happened
to him. Mr Rabbit kept the curious forest dwellers away.
Apparently
nothing had happened to Haseputz, except that he was exhausted and tired. He
sobbed loudly and snuggled up to the mother hare.
"Go
away," said the bear, bending down and picking up the little hare again,
"I'll carry him to the cave and lay him down there, because he can't hop any
more today."
And now
the whole caravan went back the way they had come to the hare family's cave.
There the other brothers and sisters of the little rabbit were already waiting
and were very happy.
The bear
put the little hare down, cleaned his belly and went back into the forest. At
the clearing, he turned around and said:
"Well,
if you need a strong bear again, just call me!" And he disappeared into the forest.
Now
everyone was happy again and slowly peace returned to the fairytale forest.