A long time ago in Japan, when animals could still talk, there lived a little white hare on an island called Oki. Every day, the hare sat on the beach and stared across the ocean at a place called Inaba. He wanted to visit Inaba more than anything, but he didn’t know how to get across the water.
One day, the hare saw a crocodile swimming close to shore.
“Maybe,” thought the hare, “I can trick the crocodile into helping me!”
So he called out, “Hi, Mr. Crocodile! Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
The crocodile swam closer. “Yes, it is. Why are you smiling?”
“I was just wondering,” said the hare, “Do you think there are more crocodiles in the sea or more hares on land?”
“There are way more crocodiles!” said the crocodile proudly.
“Hmm,” said the hare. “Let’s find out. Can you call your crocodile friends and have them line up in the water from here to Inaba? That way, I can hop across and count them.”
The crocodile agreed and swam off to get his friends. Soon, there was a long line of crocodiles in the water, forming a bridge to the mainland.
The hare cheered. “Perfect! Now stay very still while I count you!”
He hopped from one crocodile to the next, counting aloud. “One, two, three…”
When he reached the last crocodile near Inaba, he laughed. “You silly crocodiles! I just wanted to get across. I didn’t care about counting at all!”
The crocodiles were angry. One snapped at the hare, and others pulled out his soft white fur. The hare yelped in pain and ran away, but his skin was sore, and he couldn’t move very well.
He lay on the beach crying, sad and hurt. Soon, a group of travelers came by. They were brothers, and one of them said, “What happened to you?”
“I tried to trick the crocodiles,” the hare admitted. “They got angry and tore out my fur.”
One of the brothers smirked. “Here’s what you should do: bathe in the salty ocean and let the wind dry you.”
The hare did what the man said—but it made everything worse! The salt stung, and the wind made his skin hurt even more. He cried out in pain.
Then another traveler walked by. He looked kind.
“What happened?” he asked gently.
The hare explained everything. He even admitted that it was wrong to trick the crocodiles.
The kind man said, “Go wash in that fresh-water stream, then roll in the soft cattail plants. That will help.”
The hare did exactly that. Right away, his pain stopped, and his fur began to grow back.
Overjoyed, the hare said, “Thank you! You were so kind. I bet the princess in Inaba will choose you, not your brothers.”
And when they reached Inaba, that’s exactly what happened. The princess chose the kind brother.
The hare learned a big lesson: Tricks and lies may work for a moment—but kindness always lasts longer.
“The Hare and the Crocodiles” by Bright Bunny Books © 2025. Retelling of “THE WHITE HARE AND THE CROCODILES” from Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki originally published in 1908.
“The Hare and the Crocodiles” is best suited for students in grades 3 to 5, with accessible language and themes about honesty, kindness, and personal growth.
Bright Bunny Books 