Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1901-02-20
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,
!: An Innocent Lie /;
mRnt what Is the use?o

ne use! Declueuly you are not up
in fine little psychological points. The
charm in lie, in a true lie, is precisely
that it is useless. A lie is it's own re-
ward its own pleasure. What use? AS
though Anselm-Cousin 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, did not remember it
at all. My interlocutor was a southerner
from the far south, liar from excess of
imagination and skeptical, as all liars are,
for they believe only in their own lies.
He is an agreeable talker, however, and
his fancy gallops so gayly along that his
tongue has difficulty to keep pace with it.
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, l pre-
pared to listen to the adventures of Cous-
in Anselm and his rabbit.
"You don't seem to recall it. Well,
never mind. 1t was one day last year. l
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 Anselm went by and said, How
do you like rabbit cooked?'
81 love it potted, with a great deal of
thyme and wild thyme l replied, and
think said bit of orange peel as big as
a nail.
"'Good. 1t just happens that l was
looking for you to ask you to eat some
potted rabbit with me at the Bastion.'
'Potted rabbit at the Bastion!
"Those words alone made my mouth
water. One is so comfortable 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. The
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 last
hot fame while outside in the scraggy
pines of the slope few parched grass
hoppers croak despairingly.
"'When shall we eat our potted rab-
bit-tomorrow?
"1What haste! Testing aside, yester-
day visited the rabbit hutch, and there
is 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, trife
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
ioli al with a y,inlx
already moved his ears like his father
and mother at the sight of q 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 basket, with a heavy stone on it.
"Three little rabbits had fallen victims
to this modern Saturn, but by miracu-
lous chance the gray one with the pink
nose had been spared.
"The next week Anselm came with a
sad expression and said that three such
strong and healthy little ones exhausted
the mother, and he should have to sacri-
flee two of them.
ale felt bad over it, but the last would
profit the more thereby.
"From this time the remaining rabbit
filled our lives. At the cafe or on our
promenades Anselm talked only Of him,
melting over his infantile graces, relat-
ing 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,
crying, While you are lying snug in your
bed l shall be gathering the herbs our
rabbit is fondest of-groundsel and bird
weed and on leaving, to prove his zeal,
Il shall spread the herbs out in the sun
shine a minute, for you know dew is
deadly to the rabbit
SIN the vapors of my interrupted sleep
this rabbit appeared gigantic to me.
"One morning the rabbit escaped, and
Anselm, still much perturbed, came to
tell me about it. After some hard run
ming he had succeeded in recapturing
him.
"At last Anselm announced that the
rabbit would be just right in week.
The feast Was set for Sunday. For the
remaining time the rabbit was to have
dry regime-no more herbs, no greens,
none of those water soaked plants that
make the flesh of rabbits so soft and in
sipid-nothing but lavender and mar
joram should he eat, an odorous diet
gathered expressly for him on the noun
tain by Arselm. For nothing in the
world would Anselm have charged an
other with this duty.
SUNDAY came.
"Anselm wished to depart the first Of
all at dawn and dispatch the victim with
a blow OH the head classically, then clean
him and put him in the pot.
Il was to come later at my ease with
two friends. who would help me to carry
the wine and other provisions"
"NNas the rabbit good?
"Alas, my friend, this rare rabbit, so
fat, so round. so sweet smelling and dain-
tily fed, never existed except in Anselm's
Imagination.
81 arose very early that Sunday morn
ing. and by accident I surprised Anselm
In the act of buying a rabbit of the meat
vender.
81 have found since that Anselm never
possessed either rabbit hutch or rabbit,
and it was solely for pleasure that the
good fellow had lied to me for month,
adding each day a new bead to his rosary
of innocent receptions"
"And what do you concludeT
"Dear me! What with that rabbit and
Anselm have forgotten the point!'-Ex-
change.
The Gloomy View.