THREE RABBITS

Long ago in Turkey, three rabbit brothers lived with their father and mother in a hole. The two older brothers did not always behave well and did badly in school. However, the youngest brother always listened to his parents and did his homework.

One day, their father said, "My sons, listen to me. You are all now old enough to care for yourselves. You must go out and dig your own holes. A rabbit's hole is very important! Without the protection of our holes, we would probably die out! Do your best to make the hole long and narrow. I hope that you will each do well in life and fall in love with nice girl rabbits. But don't move too far from us. We want you to drop by often."

The brothers tried to figure out where they should go. The first young rabbit said "I hate living in a hole! I feel like living in a little house near the field. I'll go there and eat and enjoy myself" He found a box that someone disposed of. He made a door and two windows. It was a lovely little house.

Suddenly, the rabbit saw a fox and went into his house. When the fox saw the little house, he laughed. In a few seconds, the fox destroyed the house, caught the young rabbit, and ate him. His little house could not keep out a fox.

The second young rabbit also dreamed of living in a house. He told his brother, "I am going to build a house next to a large tree. I can depend on the tree's roots to protect me." Then the young rabbit dash off to build his house. He cut off a few branches from the tree to make the roof. He filled up the roots of the tree with leaves and grass. Soon he felt hungry, so he went to look for some food.

The same fox that ate his brother saw the young rabbit. The rabbit dashed off to his house. When he saw the house, the fox laughed. It was easy for him to catch the rabbit. The roots could not protect the rabbit.

The third young rabbit differed from his brothers. He listened to his father's words and dug a long, narrow hole. The rabbit was safe. Later, his mother and father came to drop off some carrots. The little rabbit thanked his parents. His father said, "Don't mention it."