Related Stories
A very early example containing the basic motif and many of the elements of the tale is some 25 centuries old and appears in the Buddhist scriptures as the Daddabha Jataka (J 322). In it, the Buddha, on hearing about some particular religious practices, comments that there is no special merit in them, but rather that they are "like the noise the hare heard." He then tells the story of a hare disturbed by a falling fruit who believes that the earth is coming to an end. The hare starts a stampede among the other animals until a lion halts them, investigates the cause of the panic and restores calm. The fable teaches the necessity for deductive reasoning and subsequent investigation.
The Tibetan version of the Jataka tale has been told in rhyme by Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky in her book "The Terrible Plop" (2009), which has since been dramatised, using the original title "Plop!". In this, the animal stampede is halted by a bear, rather than a lion. The ending has been changed from the Tibetan original as well.
There also exists a Brer Rabbit story that is closer to the Eastern versions. In this story, Brer Rabbit initiates the panic but does not take part in the mass flight, although Brer Fox does. In this case it is Brer Terrapin that leads the animals back to question Brer Rabbit.
Read more about this topic: Henny Penny
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