The day the couple met the rabbits could have changed their lives.
They were invited to join a group of about a dozen hunters that would take part in a rabbit cull. The farmer had been suffering from a plague of rabbits for some time with his attempts at poisoning just not working. He would issue shotguns and give each person a section of his land to walk through and shoot any rabbits they find. At the end of the day the farmer planned to provide them all with a hearty meal for their trouble. The couple of young lovers were thrilled with the idea as they had never done anything like it. They were very much in love and plans for their marriage were well underway.
When the day came they got separated to cover the two areas of the farm they had each been allocated. At the end of the day they all gathered back at the farmhouse where the farmer was delighted to see so many bags full of dead rabbits. He invited them to drop their bags by the door and come in when they were ready and enjoy a well-deserved dinner.
The couple walked off a little, each having something they wanted to tell the other. He lowered his voice. “You’ll never believe this! While I was out there, after shooting several rabbits, I met one that could talk!”
Her eyes widened. “That’s amazing,” she said. “That happened to me!”
He said, “Wow! You go first.”
Still keeping her voice low, she said, “I managed to shoot and bag one or two rabbits when I heard this voice calling. It came from under a bush. It was a rabbit that told me that, if instead of shooting it, I gave it a kiss, it would break the spell that had been cast and it would go back to being a handsome prince. It said it had a great castle and in return he would marry me and just the two of us could live there together, where I could cook our meals, mend and wash our clothes, tend the royal gardens and bear his children, he said he wanted a great many children.” She just shook her head.
He said, “That is truly amazing. Like you, I had shot and bagged a few rabbits when I heard the call. That too turned out to be a rabbit that wanted me to hear its story. It said that with a single kiss it would go back to being a beautiful princess. It said that it lived in a splendid palace with her father, who presided over a great kingdom. He had many ministers who helped govern the people. They could marry and live in the palace, where the king would make him a minister and her stepmother would advise him on matters of policy, as she did for the entire ministry, with a rod of iron.” He stood, shaking his head.
“What did you do?” She asked.
“I shot it,” he said, patting his bag.
She too patted her bag. “Snap!” She said.