This stopped them, for they knew the voice of the King of Beasts, and they feared him.
"Why are you running so fast?" asked the Lion.
"Oh, King Lion," they answered him, "the earth is all breaking up!"
"Who saw it breaking up?" asked the Lion.
"I didn't," said the Elephant. "Ask the Fox—he told me about it."
"I didn't," said the Fox.
"The Rabbits told me about it," said the Deer.
One after another of the Rabbits said: "I did not see it, but another Rabbit told me about it."
At last the Lion came to the Rabbit who had first said the earth was all breaking up.
"Is it true that the earth is all breaking up?" the Lion asked.