Wolf and Rabbit Plant Cow-Peas

Next Rabbit and Wolf planted cow-peas.
"How will we divide the crop this time?" Wolf asked, looking unhappy.
"I'll take the tops," said Rabbit. "Will that make you happy?"
Wolf hesitated, not sure what to say. "Rabbit's trying to trick me," he thought. "I better take the tops." But then he thought some more. "No, that's exactly what Rabbit wants me to do: he's pretending to want the tops, but he really wants the bottoms."
So Wolf said, "Yes! I want the bottoms."
The plants grew tall and strong, and Rabbit got all the cow-peas; Wolf got nothing but roots.


Inspired by: The Days when the Animals Talked by William J. Faulkner.
Notes: I'm carrying on with the farming adventures of Rabbit and Wolf as in Faulkner's book, but I borrowed the cow-peas from the story of Rabbit and Fox in Strange ways and sweet dreams : Afro-American folklore from the Hampton Institute edited by Donald J. Waters (online at Hathi Trust).


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