The Rabbit's Eyes

The Rabbit's Eyes

Deep beneath the blue waves stood the palace of the sea king.

Its walls gleamed with mother-of-pearl. Red and green seaweed swayed in its gardens, and little shining fish darted among coral branches like birds among trees.

One day, trouble struck the palace.

One day, while swimming near the surface, the Sea King came too close to a fisherman’s bait. A hook caught beside his mouth. He broke free and returned to his palace, but the hook still hurt him, and no one knew what to do.

All the wise men of the sea were summoned to the palace.

A whale swam in.

A crab crawled up.

An octopus, an old sea bass, and Doctor Turtle arrived too. Doctor Turtle was considered the most learned physician in the whole underwater kingdom.

They consulted for a long time.

Finally Dr. Turtle said:

“There is an old legend that rabbits can see a way out where others see only danger. If we could learn the secret of rabbit vision, perhaps we could find a way to help the king.”

“Then bring the rabbit!” ordered the courtiers.

Dr. Turtle swam to the shore.

He climbed onto the sand and slowly made his way up the path.

Rabbit was strolling on the hill.

“Good morning, doctor!” he said. “You have come a long way from the sea.”

Doctor Turtle paused to catch his breath.

“I have come with an invitation from the Sea King himself.”

Rabbit’s ears pricked up.

“From the King?”

“Yes. He asks you to visit his palace.”

Doctor Turtle described the underwater gardens, coral arches, golden sand, and fish that glowed in the dark.

Rabbit listened with growing excitement.

“I have never been under the sea.”

“Sit on my back,” said the doctor. “I will take you there.”

Rabbit held tightly to the doctor’s shell, and they dived beneath the waves.

At first he closed his eyes.

But then he opened them carefully—and forgot even to breathe in astonishment.

Silvery shoals of fish swam around them. Wonderful plants grew on the seabed. Seahorses hid among the rocks, and the palace shone in the distance.

Rabbit was welcomed very politely.

He was shown the pearly hall, the coral garden, and the room where jellyfish shone instead of lanterns.

“What a wonderful place!” repeated the guest.

But along the way, he overheard two fish from the royal court talking.

“At last the doctor brought the rabbit.”

“Now we will learn the secret of his eyes and cure the king.”

“What if Rabbit won’t share it?”

“That is exactly what we brought him here for.”

Rabbit froze.

“So I wasn’t just invited as a guest,” he thought.

Soon he was brought into the great hall.

“Dear Rabbit,” said the courtiers, “our king is ill. An ancient book speaks of a special secret of rabbits’ sight. Tell us that secret at once.”

Rabbit realized that if he simply admitted he knew no magical secret, they might refuse to let him leave.

He put on a very troubled expression.

“I would gladly help. But I’m afraid there has been a terrible mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“I left the real secret of my sight on the shore.”

The hall became quiet.

“How can that be?”

Rabbit nodded solemnly.

“Before coming underwater, I hid it in the sand so the salt water would not spoil it. I brought only my ordinary traveling vision.”

The fish looked at each other.

None of the fish had ever heard of traveling vision, but none wanted to admit that they did not understand.

“You must go back for the real secret immediately!” they decided.

Doctor Turtle put Rabbit on his back again.

They swam to the surface and reached the shore.

As soon as Rabbit's paws touched the dry sand, he jumped up, once more — and was already near the forest.

“Wait!” Doctor Turtle called. “What about the secret?”

Rabbit looked back.

“Here it is, Doctor. Before inviting someone to your palace for a hidden purpose, tell them honestly why you want them to come.”

“But the king needs help!”

Rabbit thought for a moment.

“Then here is a second secret. When you don’t know what to do, take a closer look at the problem itself. Don’t go searching far away for a magical answer.”

Doctor Turtle returned to the sea ashamed.

At the palace he told everything to the sea sages.

“Rabbit is right,” said the old octopus. “We became so caught up in the legend that we stopped thinking.”

They examined the king carefully once more. The crab held the hook steady in his claw, the octopus gently turned it the right way, and Doctor Turtle helped ease it free.

Soon the king felt better.

“So the secret of rabbits’ sight worked after all,” the king said with a smile.

“But Rabbit isn’t here,” the courtiers said in surprise.

“That is the point,” the king replied. “He made you look at the problem with your own eyes.”

After that, Rabbit happily strolled along the shore. But whenever he saw Doctor Turtle coming out of the water, he always asked first:

“Is this really an invitation to visit? Or do you need another secret?”

And Doctor Turtle always answered honestly.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨