Norwegian fairy tale from
Asbjørnsen and Moe's "Norwegian Folk Tales" (1841-1844). The original story ("Haren som hadde vært gift") was found at
Project Runeberg and translated to English by
me especially for E2.
Fun fact: This short story appears as a small scene in the puppet film The Fox Widow, made by Ivo Caprino.
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There was once a hare having a stroll through the woods. "Oh, hurrah, woohoo!" he shouted as he jumped along, and every now and then he did a somersault as he ran, landing back on his feet again.
Then a fox came along.
"Good day, good day!" said the hare. I'm so happy today, because I've got married, I'll have you know," said the hare.
"That's good," said the fox.
"Oh, it wasn't that good either, it was a troll of a wife I got," he said.
"That's bad," said the fox.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad either," said the hare, "because she brought great riches, she had a large cottage."
"That's good," said the fox.
"Oh, it wasn't that good either," said the hare, "because the cottage burnt down with everything we owned."
"That's really bad," said the fox.
"Oh, but it still wasn't that bad," said the hare, "because the wife burnt as well!"
Oh dear... Give me a better story!