Collection: Inaba

Our Inaba base is named for the White Hare of Inaba.  As we know, hares and rabbits of cryptozoology are generally tricksters, but often with a soft-heart.  This case is no different.

Our tale starts with a spotted hare who wanted to cross over a bay.  Rabbits and hares can swim, but they prefer not to.  Rather, they prefer others get wet while they remain dry.  The hare challenged the sharks to line up across the bay so he could count them to determine which tribe, that of the hares or the sharks, was more numerous.  As the hare hopped across the shark bridge, he counted them one-by-one.  Upon reaching the last shark, the hare exclaimed his tribe was larger!  Well, this obviously angered the sharks.  Determined to eat the hare, the sharks tried to grab him, but only succeeded in grabbing the hare's skin.

Cold and skinless, the hare asked a group of brothers on their way to woo a princess for help.  The brothers were almost as cruel as the sharks, and suggested the hare bathe in the brine of the bay and dry off in the wind.  That was almost as painful an experience as being stripped of his skin!  The youngest brother was kind and took pity on the wailing hare.  He bid the hare bathe in the fresh water leading into the bay and to dry off with the cattails growing by the stream's edge.  This restored the hare to full health!  His new fur was white as the cattails and just as fluffy.

In gratitude for the young man's help, the Hare revealed himself to be a divine prophet (that trait is rather part and parcel of the whole trickster gig).  The Hare informed the young man that he, and not any of his cruel brothers, would marry the princess. And, of course, the young man and the princess lived happily ever after.