The rabbit came up close to the tar man. "Look here," he said, "you get out of my way and let me down into the well." The tar man never moved. "If you don‘t get out of my way, I’ll hit you with my fist," said the rabbit. The tar man never moved a finger. Then the rabbit raised his fist and struck the tar man as hard as he could, and his right fist stuck tight in the tar. "Now you let go of my fists or I’ll kick you with my foot," said the rabbit. The tar man never budged an inch. Then the rabbit kicked him with his right foot, and his right foot stuck tight in the tar. "Now you let go of my foot or I’ll kick you with my other foot," said the rabbit. The tar man never stirred. Then the rabbit kicked him with his left foot, and his left foot stuck tight in the tar. "Now you let me go or I’ll butt you with my head," said the rabbit. And he butted him with his head, and there he was; and there the other animals found him the next morning.

Well, you should have heard those animals laugh. "Oh, oh, Mr. Rabbit," they said. "Now we‘ll see whether you steal any more of our water or not. We‘re going to lay you across a log and cut your head off" "Oh, please do," said the rabbit. "I’ve always wanted to have my head cut off. I’d rather die that way than any other way I know." "Then we won‘t do it," said the other animals. "We are not going to kill you any way you like. We are going to shoot you." "That‘s better" said the rabbit. "If I had just stopped to think, I’d have asked you to do that in the first place. Please shoot me." "No, we’ll not shoot you," said the other animals; and they had to think and think for a long time.

"I’ll tell you what we‘ll do," said the bear. "We‘ll put you into a cupboard and let you eat and eat and eat until you are as fat as butter then we‘ll throw you up into the air and let you come down and burst." "Oh, please don‘t!" said the rabbit. "I never wanted to die that way. Just do anything else, but please don‘t burst me." "Then that’s exactly what we‘ll do," said all the other animals together.

So they put the rabbit into the cupboard and they fed him pie and cake and sugar, everything that was good; and by and by he got just as fat as butter. And then they took him out on the hillside and the lion took a paw, and the fox took a paw, and the bear took a paw, and the monkey took a paw; and then they swung him back and forth, and back and forth, saying: "One for the money, two for the show, three to make ready, and four to go." And they tossed him into the air, and he came down and lit on his feet and said:

"Yip, my name‘s Molly Cotton-tail;
Catch me if you can."

And off he ran into the thicket.