“GO AND BATHE IN THE FRESH WATER OF THE RIVER”
“‘You deserve to be killed,’ he said. ‘But I will let you go. In future do not try to deceive creatures bigger than yourself.’”
“Indeed, he was quite right,” said the eighty-first brother. “You were well paid for being deceitful; but I am very sorry for you.”
“Let me finish my story,” said the hare, hanging his head at this rebuke. “As I lay here, smarting with pain, a train of princes passed by. One of them told me to bathe in the sea and run in the wind. I did so, and that is what put me in this painful state. Now what can I do, for I can hardly bear my suffering?”
“It must have been my eighty brothers whom you met,” said the prince. “I must try to help you, since they have been so cruel. Go and bathe in the fresh water of the river. Then take pollen from the reeds and rub yourself with it. Your skin will heal, and your fur will grow again.”
“Thank you, most noble prince,” cried the hare. “You are as good as your eighty brothers are evil. You will find that I am not ungrateful,” and he hastened to the river.
Soon he felt quite well; and he hurried away, scarcely waiting to bid the prince good-by.
The eighty-first brother smiled to himself as he thought, “He is not so grateful as he pretended.” Then he went on to the court.
The hare, however, was already there. He had heard the talk about the wedding of the princess, and he saw how he could serve the one who had been kind to him.
One of the hare’s brothers was a handsome little fellow who had been given to the princess and who was a great favorite at the court. So the hare of Inaba hurried to this brother and told him his story.