How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He now realized with astonishment that there was apparently a part of the warren underground which was big enough to contain them all together. He felt so curious to visit it that he did not stop to make any detailed arrangements about the order in which they should go down. However, he put Pipkin immediately behind him. "It'll warm his little heart for once," he thought, "and if the leaders do get attacked, I suppose we can spare him easier than some." Bigwig he asked to bring up the rear. "If there's any trouble, get out of it," he said, "and take as many as you can with you." (13.12)
Sheesh, how hard is it to be a rabbit? Here Hazel's just going to meet another group of rabbits and he's got to worry about a possible attack. Even though he's distracted by the idea of a large underground room, he still makes a pretty solid plan here—except that in the next paragraph he realizes he's made a mistake. See, it's hard to be so clever all the time, even if you are a rabbit.
Quote #8
"El-ahrairah is a trickster," said Buckthorn, "and rabbits will always need tricks."
"No," said a new voice from the further end of the hall, beyond Cowslip. "Rabbits need dignity and, above all, the will to accept their fate." (16.11-2)
We've stumbled on the big distinction between Hazel's rabbits and Cowslip's rabbits: Hazel's rabbits recognize that cleverness is a useful rabbit trait, as modeled by that ideal rabbit, El-ahrairah. But Cowslip's rabbits use their cleverness for lots of weird, unnatural things, like making visual art (instead of telling stories) and dancing. Cleverness is best used to survive, but Cowslip's rabbits just use their cleverness to pass the time before death—oops, we mean the farmer—comes knocking.
Quote #9
"It can't be done by fighting or fair words, no. So it will have to be done by means of a trick." (28.68)
This could be said about almost anything rabbit-related. They can't fight as well as other animals and they can't give a speech to a fox about why that fox shouldn't kill them. Really, the things rabbits do best are run away and come up with tricks. But those aren't the qualities we always associate with our heroes. So how does that affect your reading experience?