El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-04
An Innocent Lie
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'Rut what is the use?'
1.-THE use, Decidedly you are not III
in fine little psychological points. TIL,
charm in lie, in a true lie, is precisely
that it is useless. y lie is its own re
ward. its own pleasure. What use? As
though Anselm-Cousn Anselm, you
know-had been Influenced by any mo-
tive the day he benevolently invited us to
help eat his famous rabbit! You, OF
course, remember Anselm's rabbit?
To tell the truth. 1 did not remember il
at all. My interlocutor was a southerner
from the far south, a liar from excess OF
imagination and skeptical, as all liars are,
for they believe only in their own lies.
He is an agreeable talkcr, however, and
his fancy gallops so gayly along that his
tongue has difficulty to keep pace with 1t.
He begins a story, forgets it and sud-
denly replaces it with another. So, with
out occupying my mind any further with
the subject on which we started, pre-
pared TO listen to the adventures of Cous-
in Anselm and his rabbit
lyon don't seem to recall it. Well.
never mind. 1t was one day last year. ]
had risen early. as is the habit of all our
shopkeepers. and sold nothing. l was
standing on the doorstep with you or
some one else deciding about the wealth
err when Anseim went by and said. How
do you like rabbit cooked?
"'I love it ported. with a great deal of
thyme and wild thyme ! replied. and I
think l said bit of orange peel as big as
q nail.
Good. 1t just happens that i was
looking for you to ask you to eat some
ootted rabbit with me at the Bastion-'
"Potted rabbit at the Bastion!
'Those words alone made my mouth
water. One Is so comforta BILE there, far
from ones wife. for the meekest of men
in our town would defend this peaceful
refuge with Mohammedan ferocity
against an invasion OF the other sex. Tho
only room serves as both dining room and
kitchen, and one can sit and watch his
breakfast simmer and the Goals in the
oven glow, dim and die out with a last
hot fame while outside in the scraggy
pines of the slope a few parched grass
hoppers croak despairingly-
When shall we eat our potted rab-
bit-tomorrow
"'What hastei Testing aside, yester-
day ] visited the ra bbit hutch, and there
Is a mother who will have her little ones
in two days. 1t is a precocious breed
and we will date the breakfast for FIVE
weeks from now
"'Well. in five weeks said l. a triie
set back. During these five weeks l did
not find leisure to forget the rabbit.
THE next morning Anselm came to
bring the latest news.
six superb little rabbits har arrived
one especially. all gray. with pink nose.
moved his ears like his father
and mother at the sight of cabbage
stalk.
HE was the one We would eat
1.-Two days later it was another matter.
The male. in jealous fury. had devoured
his progeny. They had to imprison him
under a basket, with heavy stone on it.
Three little rabbits had fallen victims
to this modern Saturn. but by a miracu-
lous chance the gray one with the pink
nose had been spared
THE next week Anselm came with n
sad expression and said that three such
strong and healthy little ones exhausted
The mother, and he should have to sacri-
ice two of them
'He felt bad over it, but the last would
profit the more thereby.
From this time the remaining rabbit
filed our lives. AT the cafe or on our
Apselm talked only of him.
melting over his infantile graces. relat- |
ng his caprices. noting his progress.
More than once at the hour of depar- |
ture for the pastures. when the silent |
streets were awakened by tingling goat
bells, AnSelm knocked on my window, |
.rying. While you are lying snug in your
bed j shall be gathering the herbs our |
-abbit is fondeSt of-groundsel and bird |
weed and on leaving, to prove his zeal. |
/ shall spread the herbs out in the sun
shine a minute. for you know dew is |
leadly TO the rabbit
'In the vapors of my interrupted sleep |
his rabbit appeared gigantic to me.
..nnn rnnrninO the hhif ned and /
Anselm, still much perturbed, came to |
ell me about it. After some hard run |
hing he had succeeded in recapturing |
him.
AT last Anselm announced that the |
.abbit would be just right in n week. |
The feast was set for Sunday. For the
emaining time the rabbit was to have 4 |
Try regime-no more herbs, no green's, |
lone of those water soaked plants that
make the flesh of rabbits so soft and in
ipid-nothing but lavender and mar
Dram should he eat. an odorous diet |
altered expressly for him on the noun
ain by Anselm. For nothing in the
world would Anselm have charged an
ther with this duty.
SUNDAY came
"Anselm wished to depart the first of
II at dawn and dispatch the victim with
blow Oh the head classically, then clean
i'm and put him in the pot.
81 was to come later at my ease with
wo friends. who would help me to carry
be wine and other provisions"
WAS the rabbit good?"
"Alas, my friend, this rare rabbit, SO
at, so round, so sweet smelling and dain-
lily fed. never existed except in Anselm's
ma gin alton.
81 arose very early that Sunday morn
,g. and by accident / surprised Anselm
4 the act of buying a rabbit of the meat
ender.
81 have found since that Anselm never
either rabbit hutch or rabbit |