Cunnie Rabbit and His Well (Campfire Story)

Long ago, there was a terrible drought. No rain fell for months and months. The rivers dried up. The ponds dried up. There wasn't one drop of water anywhere, and all the animals were dying of thirst.

So all the animals came together for a big meeting. The big ones and the little ones. And they talked, and talked, and talked. Everybody had something to say. But nobody had an idea.

And little Cunnie Rabbit sat at the back, and didn't say a word. He just listened, and thought.

And then he got up, and went home, and he started to dig. DIG! He dug, and he dug. DIG! DIG! And he dug so deep that he found water. Cool, clear water, coming up out of the ground. And he drank, and drank, until he was full.

Well, it didn't take long for the other animals to hear that Cunnie Rabbit had a well. And Spider came first. 'Friend,' he said, 'we don't have one drop of water. We're going to die. Give us some.'

And Cunnie Rabbit said, 'Anybody who wants my water has to fight me for it.'

'All right,' said Spider.

So they fought. And Cunnie Rabbit picked Spider up, and threw him up into the sky. WHOOSH! And Spider came down, flat. And then Spider got up, and threw Cunnie Rabbit up into the sky. WHOOSH! And Cunnie Rabbit went so high that he blew a horn up there, and it got dark. And he blew it again, and it got light. And then he came down, and landed so hard his hands went right down into the ground.

And then he picked up Spider again, and threw him up into the sky. WHOOSH! And Spider stayed up there for a whole rainy season, and a whole dry season. And when he finally came down, he said, 'Ee! Ee! Ee! Friend, I give up. You're a strong man.'

Then all the other animals tried. And none of them could beat him.

And last of all came Elephant. 'Where's this strong man? I'm thirsty! I'll fight him!'

'That's me,' said little Cunnie Rabbit.

And Elephant wrapped his trunk around Cunnie Rabbit, and swung him around and around, and threw him up so high he stuck in the sky. WHOOSH! And when Cunnie Rabbit came down, he picked up Elephant, the whole Elephant, and threw him up into the sky. WHOOSH!

And they fought. And fought. And they fought over a place four times bigger than this whole town. And they fought so hard that the ground caught fire, and everything burned, until there was nothing left but sand.

And at last Elephant said, 'All right. You win. Let us drink.'

So they brought out a cup. And it was a big cup. It was bigger than this whole town. Bigger than America. Bigger than England. And they filled it at the well.

And Elephant drank first. He put his trunk in, and he drank, and drank, and drank, until it was empty. Then Leopard drank. Then all the animals drank, the big ones and the little ones, until every one of them was full.

And then they were so happy that they cooked a feast. A great big pot of rice. And the pot was as big as all of Sierra Leone, and all of England, put together, and then half again. And they ate it all.

And then the water from the well spread out over all of them, and the ashes from the great fire spread out over all of them. And they swam home, every one, through the water and the ashes.

Now, before that day, all the animals had been white. But the ashes stuck to them. And that's why, to this day, some animals are red, and some are brown, and some are black, and some are spotted.

And it all started because little Cunnie Rabbit stopped talking, and started digging. DIG!