pretended that he could swim in the
water and eat fish just as the Otter did. and when the others told him
to prove it he lixed up a plan so that the Otter himself was deceived.
Soon afterward they met again and the Otter said, "I eat ducks some-
times." Said the Rabbit, "Well, I eat ducks too." The Otter chal-
lenged him to try it; so they went up along the river until they saw
several ducks in the water and managed to get near without being
seen. The Rabbit told the Otter to go first. The Otter never hesi-
tated, but dived from the bank and swam under water until he reached
the ducks, when he pulled one down without being noticed by the
others, and came back in the same way.
While the Otter hadbeen under the water the Rabbit had peeled
THE BABBIT GOES DUCK 111 NTING 267
sonic bark from a sapling and made himself a noose. " Now ." he said,
"Just watch me:"' and he dived in and swam a little way under the
water until he was nearly choking and had to come up to the top to
breathe. He went under again and came up again a little nearer to
the ducks. He look another breath and dived under, and this time he
came up among the ducks and threw the noose over the head of one
and caught it. The duck struggled hard and finally spread its wings
and flew up from the water with the Rabbit hanging on to the noose.
It flew on and on until at last the Rabbil could not hold