The Old Man and The Hare

Once there lived an old woodcutter who went every day to the forest to cut trees. One day, after he had cut a lot of wood, he felt hungry. "Oh, I'm tired and hungry," he said as he sat down on a tree stump and opened his lunch box.

As he was taking his first bite, he saw a hare sitting on the grass in front of him. The hare just sat and started at him. "Oh, do you also want something to eat?" asked the old man. He threw the bread which he held in his  hand to the hare.

At once, the hare rolled the bread into a hole and quickly jumped after it. After a while the old man heard a lovely voice singing in the hole, "A pieces of bread, kororin, suttonton."

When the song ended, the woodcutter threw another  piece of bread into the hole. Then he heard the singing again. He liked it so much that he threw  more bread into the hole until all of his lunch had gone.

The next day, when the old man unpacked his lunch box, he wondered what would happen when he threw some bread into the hole. Again he heard the same song. He was so pleased that he kept throwing small pieces of food into the hole until his lunch was all gone.

On the third day he thought, "I wonder what will happen today?" He threw a piece of his lunch into the hole and he heard the same song. He went on throwing small pieces of food into hole the until nothing was left. All he had was the empty box so he threw that in too.

"A box, kororin, suttonton," sang the voice from the hole. The old man was now so curious that he went to the hole and peeped into it. But he slipped and fell into the hole! This time the voice sang, "Old man, kororin, suttoton!"

The woodcutter opened his eyes and looked around him. He was in a large hall. There were a lot of hares standing around a mortar making rice cakes. As they worked they all sang.

When they saw the old man, they stopped and stood in front of him. The biggest hare came out to greet him. 

"Grandfather, we thank you for the many delicious pieces of bread which you have given us. Today we are making rice cakes for New Year. Please stay and  keep us company."

" A pieces of bread, kororin, suttonton, a box, ororin, suttonton, and old man, kororin, suttonton!" they all sang and went on making the rice cakes.

Then they gave the old man a large plateful of rice cakes to eat. They also gave him a bag filled with-delicious cakes to take home.

This is very old tale. But when you walk in  a forest at New Year, you may see such holes. Inside, the hares are making rice cakes and you may hear the sound of "kororin, kororin, suttonton".

So keep your eyes and ears open.