The Hare and the Hedgehog
Illustrated by Heinrich Leutemann
This fable (not a fairy tale!) is known under several other titles, especially as 'The race between the Hare and the Hedgehog". It's actually a twist on the well-known The Tortoise and the Hare, one of the Aesop's Fables.
It became part of the Grimm's collection in 1843 and Bechstein's collection in 1853.
We'll walk through the story with six color plates by Heinrich Leutemann.
It is a nice Sunday morning. Hedgehog doesn't have anything important to do. He enjoys the sunny weather and decides to check the turnips near his home. There, he meets the hare.
The hare is a gentleman, not an ordinary person. He wears his best Sunday clothes and feels he's better than others, especially better than the hedgehog. He mocks his short crooked legs.
This makes the hedgehog angry. He proposes a race. They agree on the wager - a gold coin and a bottle of brandy.
The hare is ready to start right away, but the hedgehog wants a half-hour delay. He says that he needs to eat breakfast first.
The real reason is different. He wants his wife to follow him out. He tells her that he will race the hare. She doesn't understand. There is no way to defeat the hare!
But the hedgehog tells her he won't really race. He just needs her to hide at the end of the field.
The race starts. The hare immediately takes the lead. The hedgehog makes just a few steps and ducks down. Then, he waits. The hare is way too fast for his short crooked legs, anyway.
When the hare gets to the end of the field, the hedgehog's wife appears in front of him and says: "I'm already here!"
The hare can't believe it. He doesn't spot the difference between the hedgehog and his wife. He wants a rematch.
They start running across the field. The hare is way faster again, but when he reaches the end, a hedgehog shows in front of him and says: "I'm already here!"
The hare is not ready to admit his defeat. So he wants another match. And another. And another.
He is defeated 74 times in a row.
Then, in the middle of the field, he dies. His heart just couldn't go on anymore in the hot Buxtehude weather.
The family of hedgehogs enjoys the triumph.
This story has two explicitly written morals:
- Don't make fun of somebody who is anyhow in a handicapped position.
- Always merry somebody similar to you. (Not just by the look.)
The fable about the hedgehog and the hare is one of the rare stories with a defined place - Buxtehude. This is a town relatively close to Hamburg in the North of Germany. Together with Kassel, it's sometimes called the 'Fairy Tale Capital of the World'. The name Buxtehude is also used in several other fairy tales, so a lot of people believe this town doesn't really exist. There is even a saying 'to chase somebody off to Buxtehude', which means to exile somebody very far away.
But Buxtehude not only exists, it also offers home to more than 40 thousand people and a seat to several important companies like Unilever or Airbus.
The phrase "I am already here!" is also very popular and almost proverbial all over Germany and wider.
The Hare and the Hedgehog is not a typical straight-to-the-point fable. It is much longer than most of the fables, and it has several symbolic undertones.
The first is definitely the hedgehog, who represents an ordinary man.
Then, there is a relationship between the hedgehog and his wife. While she doesn't understand or approve of her husband's decision, she still obeys his commands. At first look, this helps to strengthen the patriarchal view of the family, but on several levels (starting with the narrator who claims that the story is a lie and continues that it is true) she is presented as completely equal to her husband.
And there is number 74, which is in detail explained in this article.
All in all, we are dealing with much more than a simple fable. Splendid illustrations by Heinrich Leutemann are a welcomed bonus.