Short Fiction · Chapter
The Dreadful Rabbits explained
Judge Keith Pursuivant travels to Crispinville to investigate the local custom of greeting rabbits.
What happens
Judge Keith Pursuivant travels to Crispinville to investigate the local custom of greeting rabbits. He lodges with Morgan Pitts and meets his friend Ransome, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Ransome challenges the superstition by threatening to hunt a rabbit, but Pursuivant dissuades him and walks to town to examine historical records. The township clerk, Simmons, reluctantly retrieves an ancient chest of documents, revealing the deep roots of the rabbit-greeting tradition, which Pursuivant connects to folklore and early missionary practices.
Themes in this chapter
The Power of Belief and Ritual
The rabbit-greeting custom is a local ritual with deep roots, observed as a township ordinance and connected to folklore and superstition.
Fear and Control
Ransome's challenge to the superstition and the community's enforcement of the custom reflect the tension between fear of the unknown and the desire to maintain control.
Characters to notice
- Keith Pursuivant
Investigates the rabbit-greeting custom in Crispinville; walks to town to examine historical records.
- Mr. Pitts
Driver and landlord; explains the local custom and mentions the township ordinance against hunting rabbits.
- Ransome
Pursuivant's friend; recovering from a nervous breakdown; challenges the superstition by threatening to hunt a rabbit.
Key passages
“Howdy, Mister Rabbit!”
Morgan Pitts greets a rabbit as it crosses the road, demonstrating the local custom.
Illustrates the ritualistic greeting that Pursuivant has come to study.
“I thought that rabbit legend would fetch you when I wrote to you about it.”
Ransome knew the rabbit-greeting legend would interest Pursuivant enough to bring him to Crispinville.
Highlights Pursuivant's reputation as a collector of folklore.