The Great Dane

Chapter 1

“The Three Hares motif is marked by ambiguity, but it could be that this was intentional. Perhaps the hares could represent friend or foe depending on the choices made by those who looked at them.”

—The Three Hares: A Curiosity Worth Regarding, by Tom Greeves, Sue Andrew and Chris Chapman.

“Come, my child,” I said, trying to lead her away. “Wish good-bye to the poor hare, and come and look for blackberries.”

“Good-bye, poor hare!” Sylvie obediently repeated, looking over her shoulder at it as we turned away.

And then, all in a moment, her self-command gave way.

Pulling her hand out of mine, she ran back to where the dead hare was lying, and flung herself down at its side in such an agony of grief as I could hardly have believed possible in so young a child.

“Oh, my darling, my darling!” she moaned, over and over again. “And God meant your life to be so beautiful!”

—Lewis Carroll