A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Invited by Dr. Turtle, a rabbit rides on his shell to a magnificent underwater palace and enjoys its hospitality. He then overhears that the court intends to take his eyes for a poultice to treat the fish king’s embedded hook. He politely claims that his present eyes are crystal substitutes and that his real eyes are buried on the beach to protect them from water. The doctor accepts his offer to retrieve them, carries him ashore, and loses him when he bolts into the woods. No actual eye removal, replacement or transformation takes place. Griffis’s Brother Bunny is this tale’s speaking rabbit, not evidence that every rabbit possesses magical organs.

In Allen’s 1889 account the rabbit accepts a tour of the underwater court, overhears the plan to remove his eyes before he dies, and claims to have buried his real eyes on the beach while wearing crystal replacements. He offers just one real eye, saying it should suffice. Once carried ashore he admits that he owns only one pair and runs away. This earlier English witness confirms that detachable eyes are a deliberate lie within the story; Allen gives no actual replacement organs or completed cure for the fish king.

Speaking rabbit who escapes a fish court by inventing removable eyesSpecific literary witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Korean tale in an English literary retelling

02

Records & interpretation

Full relevant tale and collection preface directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Fairy Tales

    William Elliot Griffis · 1922

    The Rabbit’s Eyes, pp. 24–29

  2. 02

    Korean Tales

    Horace Newton Allen, translator and narrator · 1889

    III, The Rabbit, and Other Legends, pp. 34–39; earlier English comparison with Griffis

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

William Elliot Griffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922)

The Rabbit’s Eyes. The Rabbit’s Eyes, pp. 24–29

Complete chapter V directly read through Dr. Turtle’s return. Rabbit’s crystal-eye story explicitly a bluff; no final cure invented. No Korean-language original or named narrator supplied by Griffis. Additional complete Allen1889 chapter III, pp.34–39, compared: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/55539/pg55539-images.html#ch2 . Hook placement and narrative ending differences retained; original evidence record remains primary for Griffis.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical English literary retellingGriffis, Korean Fairy Tales (1922), The Rabbit’s Eyes, pp. 24–29Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Historical English translation and narrative noticesAllen, Korean Tales (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889), IIIResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·1704 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑