'Yes, that's what I've come for,' replied the other. 'You know me, don't you?'
'Yes, of course,' said Hazel, hoping he would be able to remember his name in a moment. Then he saw that in the darkness of the burrow, the stranger's ears were shining with a faint, silver light. 'Yes, my lord,' he said. 'Yes, I know you.'
'You've been feeling tired,' said the stranger, 'but I can do something about that. I've come to ask whether you'd care to join my Owsla. We shall be glad to have you and you'll enjoy it. If you're ready, we might go along now.'
They went out past the young sentry, who paid the visitor no attention. The sun was shining and in spite of the cold there were a few bucks and does at silflay, keeping out of the wind as they nibbled the shoots of spring grass. It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
'You needn't worry about them,' said his companion. 'They'll be all right - and thousands like them. If you'll come along, I'll show you what I mean.'
He reached the top of the bank in a single, powerful leap. Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom.
*Rabbits can count up to four. Any number above four is Hrair - 'a lot', or 'a thousand'. Thus they say U Hrair - 'The Thousand' - to mean, collectively, all the enemies (or elil, as they call them) of rabbits - fox, stoat, weasel, cat, owl, man, etc. There were probably more than five rabbits in the litter when Fiver was born, but his name, Hrairoo, means 'Little thousand', i.e. the little one of a lot or, as they say of pigs, 'the runt'.
*Nearly all warrens have an Owsla, or group of strong or clever rabbits - second-year or older - surrounding the Chief Rabbit and his doe and exercising authority. Owslas vary. In one warren, the Owsla may be the band of a war-lord: in another, it may consist largely of clever patrollers or garden-raiders. Sometimes a good story-teller may find a place; or a seer, or intuitive rabbit In the Sandleford warren at this time, the Owsla was rather military in character (though, as will be seen later, not so military as some).
*The stresses are the same as in the phrase 'Never say die'.
*Stinking - the word for the smell of a fox.
*Tractor - or any motor.
*'Hoi, Hoi, the stinking Thousand, We meet them even when we stop to pass our droppings.'
*'Song of the Blackbird.'
*Go above ground to feed.
*Bigwig's word was hlessil, which I have rendered in various places in the story as wanderers, scratchers, vagabonds. A hlessi is a rabbit living in the open, without a hole. Solitary bucks and unmated rabbits who are wandering do this for quite long periods, especially in summer. Bucks do not usually dig much in any case, although they will scratch shallow shelters or make use of existing holes where these are available. Real digging is done for the most part by does preparing for litters.
*Zorn! means 'finished' or 'destroyed', in the sense of some terrible catastrophe.
*The first syllable is stressed and not the second, as in the word 'Majesty'.
*Hyzenthlay: 'Shine-Dew-Fur' - Fur shining like dew.
*Bob-stones is a traditional game of rabbits. It is played with small stones, fragments of stick or the like. Fundamentally it is a very simple kind of gambling, on the lines of 'Odds or Evens'. A 'cast' of stones on the ground is covered by the player's front paw. The opponent must then hazard some sort of surmise about its nature, e.g. one or two, light or dark, rough or smooth.
*Thethuthinnang: Movement-of-leaves. The first and last syllables are stressed, as in the phrase 'Once in a way'.
*Marli - a doe. Tharn - stupefied, distraught. In this particular context, the nearest translation might be 'the maiden all forlorn'.
Richard Adams, Watership Down
(Series: Watership Down # 1)
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