Toby was tired of being scared and frightened all the time. A sudden
falling of a dead branch, the sound of leaves rubbing against each
other, the howling wind, the clapping thunder, and every little sound
scared him to death. Since he was a tiny baby rabbit, his mother,
Lightfoot, had taught him to fear everything.
“Run for your life at any given moment because you never know who’s
lurking behind a tree, ready to make a meal out of you. Fear,” she
insisted, “is a virtue for us rabbits. Fear, fear, fear. Always live in
fear if you want to grow old.”
One of the elders nodded his agreement, then he said in a grave tone.
“One more thing you should never forget, Toby. We rabbits are more
vulnerable when we are asleep. If I were you, I would learn how to
sleep with one eye open.”
“But Mom,” Toby had argued later on as they sat hidden in their safe
lair, “did you read the picture book you gave me?”
“Oh, that,” she said and sighed deeply. “Those are just pictures, son.
Pictures drawn by the bravest of all rabbits, your father, who tried to
teach us to be brave and courageous. And how did his life end? You
don’t know, do you, Toby? He was eaten by a smart fox. You see, son, we
are creatures of fear, and through fear we survive. Without it we will
perish.”
“But Mom,” he said showing her the picture on the first page. “You see
the mighty king Lion as he cowardly runs away from the little mouse?”
“Yes, yes,” she said, “of course I do. Every animal is afraid and
trembles in fear in the presence of some other animal. The Lion from
the Mouse, the Mouse from the Cat, the Cat from the Dog . . . and on
and on. But, my dear Toby, we rabbits have to learn to fear
everything.”
So, Toby had learned to fear everything; sometimes he was scared even
of his own shadow.
As if all he had learned about fear was not enough, Toby started having
bad dreams. It was always the same dreadful dream. In his dream, he had
to stay awake all night and guard the other rabbits from hungry,
lurking creatures of the night. He had to look for the safety of the
rabbits while they were asleep. Carefully, silently, he hopped from
lair to lair checking around, looking, sniffing the air, listening for
unusual sounds, and making sure that everything was all right. He was
very surprised and stunned when he found out that all the rabbits were
asleep with one eye shut, while their open eye stared at him. The elder
rabbit gazed at Toby with his open eye, and said in a low, warning
tone. “Remember, Toby. One eye open! One eye open! One eye open!
Right then, as the nightmare ended, he always woke up with a start,
shaking, and his little heart pounding like a huge drum from the
dreadful dream.
“I can not even get some peace while I am asleep. This is not fun,” he
said to himself. “I have to escape my fears by running away from the
ones who taught me to fear.”
And now, he stood on his hind legs, while his ears fanned the crisp air
screening all unfamiliar sounds. He let out a sigh, lowered his body
and, with a succulent mouthful of grass, sat on his hind legs and
started chewing. His eyes searched around and about to see what kind of
dangerous creatures might be waiting for him to relax . . . “Oh, no!”
said Toby. “I can’t let my guard down, not even for a second.”
So he hopped and jumped and ran on his way to the river. As he
stealthily approached a deep water pool to drink some water, a whole
bunch of croaking frogs suddenly stopped their loud singsong, leaped up
in the air, and dove into the deep pool. Toby was shocked. Were they
scared of him? Did his presence spread fear in the hearts of all those
frogs? He had to make sure that it was him that made the frogs
jump in the water and not something else.
So he sat on his hind legs and tried to imitate the roaring sounds of
the king Lion. Although his roaring sounded more like a thin screech
than a roar, Toby saw another bunch of frogs diving in haste into the
deep pool. Proudly now he stood tall and brave. “I am a rabbit. I am
Tobias!” he sang. Then turned around, and hopped and pawed toward the
safety of his lair, his home.
He had to tell his mom and the elders that they had it all wrong. It
was not fear that helped rabbits to live a long and happy life. He now
knew that fear was a feeling shared by all living creatures no matter
how big or small. Toby smiled. The valuable lesson he had learned today
was that he had to be cautious and aware of other creatures, but to
also enjoy the gift of life without being scared all the time.