Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Rabbit who Saw the World....an English folktale


Rufty Tufty was a rabbit who wanted to see the world.

"What is the world like?" he said to everyone he met. "It's a big flat place," said his mother. "No, it's square," said his father, and nobody could agree.

One evening Rufty Tufty saw Wise Old Owl sitting in an oak tree. "Mr Owl," he squeaked. "Can you tell me what the world is like?" The old owl looked wise, then he said, "The world is round."

All night Rufty Tufty dreamed of a round world. As soon as he woke up he said "Good-bye" to his family, and set out to see for himself.

He hadn't gone far - hoppity hop, hoppity hop - when he came to the edge of the woods and saw a fence. Slipping through a gap, Rufty Tufty found himself inside a vegetable garden.

As Rufty Tufty looked round the garden, and nibbled at a cabbage, he saw a large round pumpkin.

"The world!" he squeaked to himself, and joyfully hopped over the cabbages to the place where the pumpkin stood.

Rufty Tufty stretched out a paw and patted the pumpkin. "The world is hard," he thought.

Then, giving a jump, he scrambled to the top of the pumpkin and looked all around, then slithered down the other side.

Just then Mr Brown came home and saw Rufty Tufty near his pumpkin.
He shouted and frightened Rufty Tufty so much that the little rabbit scampered back to the Window Woods.

"Mr Owl is right," he told his mother. "The world is round and I have been all over it!"

found at 4to40.com

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