from Watership Down
The Story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé
by Richard Adams
According to rabbit lore, during a dire time when El-ahrairah’s warren is under siege,
the wise rabbit devices a plan to offer his life to Death himself in return for relief
from the siege. So with the help of a distraction by his brave generals, El-ahrairah and
his faithful companion Rabscuttle escape from the burrows and journey to the land of
Death. You’ll have to read of their quest yourself, but I will tell you that their
passage of time in the land of the gods is—as in our own traditional tales of The Mahabharata and The Tipitaka—much
slower than the passage of time in the mortal realm.
— Michael Main
“The Story of El-ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inlé” by Richard Adams, chapter 17 of Watership Down, (Rex
Collings, November 1972).