Why the hare has long ears

By Mwalimu Sempai

Kenya: A long time ago, all the animals lived together in an expansive forest as a family. Then, even Man still lived in a cave and depended on fruit for his survival. Respect and honour for each other reigned and conflict, if any, was minimal.

In every grouping, however, there is always a troublemaker. During these peaceful times, Hare was always up to some kind of mischief. One day he got bored and went to Leopard and teasingly told him, “My dear friend, Lion wants to eat me, but the spirits of my ancestors tell me that if I eat food offered by a leopard, Lion will without a doubt die instantly when he attempts to eat me. Convinced by the tall tale and being rather gullible, the Leopard innocently parted with some of his food. That night, without even breaking a sweat, hare had a free meal.

Amazed at how easily he had deceived Leopard, Hare kept up his act. The following day he went to Lion and told him, “My dear childhood friend, Leopard wants to eat me, but the spirits of my ancestors tell me that he will keel over and die if only I eat the food offered by a lion.” Just like Leopard, Lion gave him food.

Overtaken by greed and laziness, Hare went on with his deceitful ways for days on end cheating animal after animal off their provisions. They say a thief has 40 days and it was not any different for Hare for he too was soon discovered. Unfortunately, Hare had already gotten used to easy meals and loathed work.

To this end, he changed from a beggar and con to a thief. When the sun went to rest after a long day, Hare would creep out in the moonlight into other animal’s farms and steal. He was especially fond of Elephant’s maize field, which seemed to have an endless supply of the sweet grain. It did not take long, however, for the gentle giant to notice. Worried by the trend, she decided to keep watch at night.

True to his habit, Hare snuck into the farm around midnight not noticing Elephant who was hidden in the crop. Hare overate till he became bloated. Only when he could not move did Elephant appear from her cover, catching Hare red handed.

So angry at this moment was elephant that she got hold of Hare’s ears with her strong trunk and began swinging him violently over her head. Swish, swish, and swish like a merry-go-round the Hare went before he was tossed from the maize field.  Word of Hare’s bad habit went round and he was disgraced. When he eventually showed his face in public, his ears that were once short were now long.