The Hare and the Lion's Cubs

A Lioness went out to hunt, leaving her cubs in the den. Mmutla the Hare, the trickster, found the cubs and decided to play a cruel trick. He told them, "Your mother said you must be brave lions! A true lion is not afraid of fire. Let's play a game to see who is bravest." He built a fire at the mouth of the den and told the cubs to jump through it. The foolish cubs, wanting to prove their bravery, jumped into the fire and were killed. The Hare then skinned the cubs and made a fine coat for himself. When the Lioness returned and found her children gone, she was filled with a terrible rage and grief. The Hare, wearing his new coat, came to "comfort" her. But a small bird that had witnessed the deed sang out, revealing the Hare's crime. The Lioness, in her fury, chased the Hare, who escaped only by scrambling into a deep crevice in a rock, where the lioness could not reach him. The story is a dark tale that showcases the Hare's capacity for cruelty and the origins of the eternal enmity between the lion and the hare.