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Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a great forest which stood for thousands of years. The forest held vast amounts of mighty trees and lush foliage which grew green and full and bloomed throughout each year. Deep in the center, on thickly padded moss covered paths in so deep a place that no human ever imagined, lived a small family of rabbits. There was Pappa and Momma rabbit and 3 baby rabbits. The family was happy indeed, and spent each wordless day running through the woods, racing under branches through tunnels and frolicking in a nearby meadow without a care. Whenever it rained, the family would find their cozy den, snuggle in close to each other and wait and listen for the rain to end. Once it did, they'd venture out into the sweet-smelling forest to look for food and friends or warm themselves in the sunlight of the meadow. Not even the birds were happier than this family of five.
One morning, as the sun once again touched their backs and warmed their tails, Momma rabbit saw a queer site - something that she had not seen before. It was covered in fur, like her, but the colors were different - black and orange in an arrangement of stripes that were heretofore never seen in that part of the forest. Underneath, tufts of the softest white fur poked out which reminded her of the fur of her own three baby bunnies. The creature was not much bigger than she, and, cautiously, she sniffed around to see if she would recognize the scent of this odd creature. Unaware of his nearby observer, the stranger sat, rolled on its back, and gave a great yawn. His teeth were not like anything Mamma bunny had ever seen, and as he stretched he showed great claws, but something in his presence seemed un-threatening, as if he was not even aware of his odd physical traits. Soon, the warmth of the mid-day sun overcame him and sent him into a sleep where he dreamt of more fields and sun and being with his friends.
When he awoke, he found he was looking into the faces of two creatures whom he had never before seen. They appeared to be friendly enough so he said "Hello," to Mamma and Pappa rabbit who only twitched their noses in response and sniffed more and looked at each other. "I'm Pericles," he said proudly, "and I'm a tiger." letting out a smile. The bunnies twitched some more, and hopped around. The tiger just looked at them, thinking how odd it was that they hopped rather than walked. But there was a sweetness in their presence and Pericles was reminded how hungry he had become, so he decided to try and make friends. He rolled on his back and smiled and, once, when Pappa was near, he licked him. Momma and Pappa rabbit felt sorry for him for he looked lonely and like he hadn't eaten in quite some time, so they motioned for him to come back and spend some time with them and their own three bunnies.
Now Pericles was merely a cub, and he wasn't much bigger than his new friends. But he realized he was different and that they were trying to be nice, so he was sure to be on his best behavior. The rabbits fed him the best they could: He wasn't a fan of grass, but he liked the nuts, berries and other things they found for him and soon he was content, sleeping again in the high grass in the meadow. Mamma rabbit thought that perhaps they could be nice to him, and let him stay - at least for a little while. Pappa was thinking the same thing and so began the stay of Pericles the tiger with the family of rabbits deep in the wood.
The summer went on and the days became warmer and longer and the family, with their odd guest, presented an ever-curious scene as they made their way through the forest and the fields. Later in the summer, as the days began to grow cooler and shorter, Mamma and Pappa began to realize an odd thing: Pericles, in addition to his fangs, claws and stripes, was growing extremely large he began to tower over his tiny hosts! They also realized how he ate more and more, and no matter how much food they found and gathered for him, it seemed impossible to satisfy his growing appetite. Some days it seemed that they worked all day long just to keep the great cat's stomach from roaring so fearfully. Momma and Pappa looked at each other, and, with their quite way of twitching their noses and hopping, decided that it would be best if Pericles someday were to move away from them to a part of the forest with bigger trees and other types of food that he could find to eat. There was even a lake near there, where, perhaps, he could find other things that he had not eaten before. Sadly, Pericles knew that his time had come, and with one last look over his shoulder at the kind family who had oddly replaced his loneliness, he trotted off towards the lake.
As Pericles found his way along the soft moss path, his hunger overtook began to overtake his loneliness and he knew that he had to find better places for food to support his ever growing body. Something also told him that as the days grew shorter and colder that he would have to eat much much more in order for him to sleep and sleep and sleep until it was warm again. As he thought, he sadly remembered his true mother and what had become of her. So Pericles began an endless month of eating and eating anything he could find. He grew fatter and bigger still, and one day while walking by the lake, in a pool he saw a strange sight: A large orange beast, covered with black stripes and tufts of feather-white fur underneath was looking right back at him. Startled, he shook his head and squeezed his eyes in disbelief and realized what he saw. Not ever having seen himself before, he felt the difference now more strongly than ever between himself and his kind friends who had shown him so much.
Soon the force of slumber overtook him, and he found a warm dry cave and crawled into it. With a great yawn he curled up in the back and began his winter-escaping sleep. All during the winter the same dream came back to him where he saw himself gazing into the pool. His size and other traits disturbed his dreams as before only the bunny's fur was familiar to him. Sometimes his dream became a nightmare because his own face frightened him - with large fangs and a tongue the width of a beaver's tail, he shuddered to think of what he had become. His hibernation became a fitful span of tossing and turning to avoid this great beast staring back at him.
Eventually, the warmth of the sun broke the cold spell of winter and birds returned to the forest. The leaves began to burst from the tips of the trees again and all manner of animals and forest creatures began to awaken and scurry for food. Pericles was awakened by the sun coming into his cave and by the great roar his stomach now made as it had been months since his last meal. Thrilled that winter's cold visit was over, he stretched and turned and rolled and yawned and stumbled into the blazing bright sun of spring. Food was on his mind but he again was reminded, looking around, of how lonely was. While he knew he could find enough food for himself his rabbit family was nowhere to be seen. He walked along the lake and again saw his reflection and how big he had become. He saw that his fangs were longer and sharper than ever, and his sharp claws gleamed in the sunlight as he stretched. "But I'm still me, I am likeable to someone I am sure," he thought as he trotted off.
He was sad at this thought, however, because it only served to remind him that he really was alone. His days became long and tiresome while he wandered around, finding food when he needed and taking his naps in the warm sun. But all the while he remembered his friends in the sweet rabbit family and how they would all play together and how happy he was with them.
Then one day, across the lake, he saw a familiar sight: A rabbit was hopping along the lake with her white tail waiving a happy hello with each hop. So excited, he ran over to the bunny who froze in terror for she had never seen such a creature! He told her his name and he explained how he had been raised in the last summer by the kind rabbit family and wondered if this new bunny knew them. She calmed down and eventually began to think that this large beast was not cruel despite her prior experiences with other animals. As the day wore on, the bunny and the tiger played by the lake. The bunny began to feel safe and protected by Pericles because few other animals came near to them both when he was near.
Pericles was happy to have a friend that he jumped and rolled and roared. But these actions, while meant as fun, felt somehow scary to the bunny. She tried to keep calm and stay near, but Pericles was too big and sometimes he didn't see her. Once, while running, he stepped on the poor bunny's foot and she let out the rarest of sounds: A bunny's cry! Hearing this, Pericles stopped in his tracks. Having spent so much time with his erstwhile family taught him that bunnies are the quietest creatures on earth. But hearing this new sound he asked his new friend what was wrong. She sniffed and twitched her nose and ran in circles and by and large, Pericles understood her story: She liked Pericles and wanted to be his friend, but he was just too large for her - not to mention that his claws were long and sharp and his teeth were curved and threatening. Her foot, still throbbing, reminded her of his tremendous size. Again, Pericles looked into the water. It was true, he had become bigger than any other animal in the forest. Now he began to hate what he saw for he truly loved this bunny.
From a nearby tree, a horrible magpie, the lowliest of birds, was watching all along. He screeched: "I know who you are, you mean tiger! You leave that poor bunny alone!" "I'm not mean," thought Pericles, "just who is this magpie anyway?" He wanted to swat at that bird, but alas it was too high in the tree and out of reach. Saddened, he turned to the bunny and pled with her - how he didn't mean to step on her foot and that he understood that she was much smaller than he. He explained how much he liked bunnies and that he was even raised by them and he would try to be more careful. But it made no difference. The magpie squawked again, "She can't be around someone like you! I know what she needs. Just forget about her!" Indeed, the bunny liked Pericles in his handsome strength but also knew that she was too fragile for him no matter how hard he would try. She sniffed and twitched an "I'm sorry," and hopped away along the lake. The magpie gloated out a caw and followed above her.
Pericles watched sadly as she disappeared, but he knew that she was right. A tear slid down his furry cheek as he realized that it was more important for her to be safe and well than for him to have a friend. And so he let her go.
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