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

Overview

During a hot, almost rainless season, the rabbit and the antelope agree to dig a deep well together. At the rabbit's urging they hide their food for later. While digging, the rabbit three times claims to hear voices calling him home to name newborn children. Each time he slips off to eat from the cache, and he reports names that track how much of the food he has eaten: Uncompleted one, Half-completed one, and Completed. That evening he blames a cat, and the antelope goes hungry.

The trick continues for days until the antelope accuses him. The rabbit angrily dares him to take casca, and they agree that whoever's tail is wet first is guilty. As the casca takes effect, the rabbit tries to blame the antelope, but it is his own tail that is wet. The antelope spares him on condition that he never drinks from the well and leaves his company for good.

A bird later tells the antelope that the rabbit drinks there every day. The antelope carves a wooden figure about the rabbit's size, places it at the well, and coats it in bird-lime. The rabbit challenges the silent figure and strikes and kicks it until his hands, feet, head, and stomach are all stuck. The antelope arrives, laughs at him, and kills him. The rabbit's wife and children are known only from his own claims.

Rabbit: deception, invented calls, coded child namesAntelope: persistence, casca test, bird-lime decoyCasca ordeal decided by a wet tailNo supernatural powers stated
01

Origins & earliest records

Recorded in Dennett, Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort (1898), tale XXIII. The printed text marks attestation, not oral origin.

02

Records & interpretation

Dennett's tale XXIII, 'The Rabbit and the Antelope', includes the inspected running heads for pages 91–93. The paired characters belong to this particular narrative witness.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort

    R. E. Dennett · 1898

    Selected bibliography; sole primary source consulted, via OCR text.

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.

References

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

  1. Public-domain primary text (OCR)Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort (R. E. Dennett, 1898), OCR textResearch access: 2026-10-07

Image credits

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

FT·946 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑