Grimm's Household Tales

There was once a woman and her daughter who lived in a pretty garden with cabbages, and a little hare came into it and during the winter ate all the cabbages. Then the mother said to the daughter, “Go into the garden and chase the hare away.” The girl said to the little hare, “Shoo, hare, you are still eating up all our cabbages.” The hare said, “Come, maiden, and seat yourself on my little hare’s tail, and come with me into my little hare’s hut.” The girl would not do it. The next day the hare came again and ate the cabbages. Then the mother said to the daughter, “Go into the garden and drive the hare away.” The girl said to the hare, “Shoo, little hare, you are still eating all the cabbages.” The little hare said, “Maiden, seat yourself on my little hare’s tail, and come with me into my little hare’s hut.” The maiden refused. On the third day the hare came again and ate the cabbages. At this the mother said to the daughter, “Go into the garden and hunt the hare away.” The maiden said, “Shoo, little hare, you are still eating all our cabbages.” The little hare said, “Come, maiden, seat yourself on my little hare’s tail, and come with me into my little hare’s hut.” The girl seated herself on the little hare’s tail, and then the hare took her far away to his little hut and said, “Now cook green cabbage and millet seed, and I will invite the wedding guests.” Then all the wedding guests assembled. (Who were the wedding guests?) That I can tell you as someone else told it to me. They were all hares, and the crow was there as parson to marry the bride and bridegroom, and the fox as clerk, and the altar was under the rainbow.

The girl, however, was sad, for she was all alone. The little hare came and said, “Open the doors, open the doors; the wedding guests are merry.” The bride said nothing but wept. The little hare went away. The little hare came back and said, “Take off the lid, take off the lid; the wedding guests are hungry.” The bride again said nothing and wept. The little hare went away. The little hare came back and said, “Take off the lid, take off the lid; the wedding guests are waiting.” Then the bride said nothing, and the hare went away, but she dressed a straw doll in her clothes, gave it a spoon to stir with, set it by the pan with the millet seed, and went back to her mother. The little hare came once more and said, “Take off the lid, take off the lid,” and he got up and struck the doll on the head so that its cap fell off.

Then the little hare saw that it was not his bride, and he went away and was sorrowful.