Page 1
"I am hungry," said Brer Rabbit as the setting sun was
warming his grumbling tummy.
"We are, too," said his kids.
But Brer Rabbit had no vegetable garden
of his own to feed his large family.
Page 2
Instead he had two long ears, two sharp eyes and a nose that could smell a carrot a mile away. Brer Rabbit's nose twitched. A sweet familiar smell wafted from Fox's garden. Fox was famous for his big yummy vegetables which he guarded very carefully. "Carrots!" said Brer Rabbit, "I think Fox's carrots are ripe and ready.
Time to pay another visit to his
vegetable garden.
Don't want him to think
I'm neglecting him."
Page 3
Brer Rabbit made his visit late at night when Fox was
sound asleep. Then he selected only the juiciest and
sweetest carrots until his bag was
quite full. "The Rabbit family is
eating very well tonight," he smiled
and picked up the bag. Then he
threw sand over his footprints
to cover his tracks.
Page 4
The next morning Fox was furious
when he saw the damage to his garden.
"I bet it was Brer Rabbit!" he snarled.
But he wasn't sure.
There were no tracks!
Page 5
But Fox soon found a crack under the fence
where somebody had crawled through.
"Now I'll catch you," Fox smiled. He tied a rope with a
loop knot and fixed it to a tree branch. It was a perfect trap
for anybody who would dare steal his prize-winning vegetables.
Page 6
That night Brer Rabbit decided to pay
another visit to Fox's garden. As he
slipped under the fence, his feet got
caught in the trap and-WHOOOSH-
Brer Rabbit was jerked
up into the air. There he dangled
back and forth - trapped.
Brer Rabbit was surprised.
But he was not worried.
"I'll think of something," he said and
then he made himself comfortable
and took a little snooze.
Page 7
The next morning
Bear happened to
pass by.
He said, "What's up,
Brer Rabbit? You
look sort of
different today."
Page 8
"I'm great," said Brer Rabbit, "I'm working for Fox.
He's paying me one dollar a minute to keep the
crows out of his vegetable patch."
"One dollar a minute!" said Bear, "That's a lot of money."
"Sure is," said Brer Rabbit, "I've already earned enough
to buy a whole truck of honey."
Page 9
"Hmmm," said Bear. The thought of honey
made his mouth water. Bear was thinking very hard.
"Would you let me take over for a while?" he said,
"I would love to buy some honey. But I haven't any money."
Page 10
"Well," said Brer Rabbit, who didn't want to sound too anxious, "If it's only for a short while I think I can let you have a turn. After all, what are friends for?"
Page 11
Bear was overjoyed. He helped Brer Rabbit down and put the rope around his own feet. Soon he was dangling in Brer Rabbit's place.
Page 12
"I'll tell Fox that you took over," said Brer Rabbit, "Maybe he'll double your pay. A big, clever guy like you can surely do a better job than me."
Page 13
But that was not what
he said to Fox. He called,
"Quick, Fox,come quick if
you want to see who has
been stealing your
vegetables!"
Page 14
Fox grabbed a long stick and ran
down to the vegetable garden.
There he found Bear hanging in the trap.Before Bear
could explain himself Fox gave him such a thrashing
that Bear's howling could be heard miles away.
Page 15
Now, Brer Rabbit knew that the moment Bear was free
again he would come after him. Brer Rabbit was looking
for a place to hide. As he heard Bear approaching he
jumped into a mud puddle. He buried himself so deep
that only his eyes were sticking out.
Page 16
No sooner was he hidden in the mud when Bear appeared. "Howdy, Frog," said Bear, out of breath, "Have you seen Brer Rabbit?" "Ribbit-Yes!" croaked Brer Rabbit in his most convincing frog-voice.
"He just ran by.
You better hurry
if you want to catch him."
With that Bear dashed off.
Page 17
Brer Rabbit was besides
himself with glee. Once
again he had outsmarted
Fox and Bear.
"Tonight," he said to himself,
"I'll get the rest of Fox's
carrots and maybe
a few turnips, too."
Page 18
Meanwhile Bear had to cool his sore bottom
in a bucket of ice. He was thinking of ways
to pay back Brer Rabbit.
