For most of us, the memory of a story told before bedtime is like a warm glass of milk - soothing, comforting, savored. Amy Friedman and Jillian Gilliland give us a children's classic or original story every week, accompanied by a captivating illustration that can launch the imagination.

RABBIT'S TRICK (a tale from Sierra Leone)

RABBIT'S TRICK (a tale from Sierra Leone)
adapted by Amy Friedman and illustrated by Jillian Gilliland

Long ago a terrible famine struck the villages of Africa, and everyone was starving -- even the animals. The king of the beasts, Lion, tried to feed his fellow animals, but before long he could find no food anywhere. So Lion King called a meeting of the firstborn children.

"I'm so sorry for us all," Lion began as he looked around at all the animals. "I'm afraid, though, I have discovered only one solution to our troubles."

The animals listened closely, for Lion's voice was loud and commanding, and they believed he would solve their problem.

"I have talked to the lion kings in other villages, and they have told me our trouble is that our Old Ones are greedy. They are too weak and old to search for food, but when we bring home food to eat, they snatch it away. The Old Ones will lead us to starvation. We must chase them away."

The animals listened and nodded. They all did, that is, but Rabbit. "The Old Ones have nowhere to go!" he cried, thinking fondly of his mother and father who had always cared for him and were careful to conserve their food. "If we chase them away, the beasts who walk on two legs will destroy them."

The other animals gasped when they heard Rabbit's words. No one spoke to Lion that way. No one dared disagree with the king.

"What do you propose we do?" Lion asked Rabbit. "If we let the Old Ones stay here, we all will die."

"That's right!" the other animals shouted. "We don't want to lose our lives for the sake of the Old Ones."

"Friends," Lion said, waving his stately tail, "I cannot bear to see you die. Everyone must go home tonight and chase the Old Ones away. Send them away to save yourselves!"

Again Rabbit tried to speak, but the other animals shushed him and hurried to their homes to chase away their mothers and fathers and grandparents.

But Rabbit was cunning and brave, and so, instead of chasing away his old parents, he took them and their supply of food to the top of a tall tree. There he hid them from the others' view.

The next morning Rabbit joined the other animals to hunt for food. But there was little food to be found.

In the evening Rabbit returned to the tree and sang to his parents. "Send rope, Mama and Papa, send rope down."

His parents sent down a strong rope from their perch, and Rabbit caught hold of its end. Then they drew him up, and they fed him from the food they had carefully saved through the year.

Weeks passed in this way. Each day the animals grew thinner and thinner. Everyone did, that is, but Rabbit, for every night his parents hauled him to the top of the tree and fed him from their stores.

Before long the other animals grew suspicious. "Rabbit does not seem to be withering away like the rest of us," they whispered. They decided to follow Rabbit home that night.

Tortoise and Rat and Monkey and Frog secretly followed Rabbit. When they saw him standing beneath the tree, they waited patiently. And then they heard his song. "Send rope, Mama and Papa, send rope down."

They watched as the rope descended and pulled Rabbit up into the tree. They hurried to their homes and reported their news to the others.

"We need food," the others said. "We'll all go get a meal from Mother Rabbit."

And so, the next day, just before Rabbit prepared to head home, all the other animals gathered beneath the tall tree. Frog, imitating Rabbit's voice, began to sing. "Send rope, Mama and Papa, send rope down."

Down came the rope, and Frog grabbed hold of it. Then Tortoise took hold, and so did Rat and Goat and Monkey and Lion. Last of all, Baboon took hold.

Mother Rabbit began to pull, but the rope was so heavy, she could barely move it. "Pull rope, Mama and Papa," Frog called. Mother Rabbit pulled, and Father Rabbit pulled with her, but the rope was so very heavy, they could not lift the animals more than a few inches.

When Rabbit arrived at the tree and saw all the animals hanging from his parents' rope, he sang as loudly as he could. "Cut rope, Mama and Papa, cut rope now!"

Mother Rabbit cut the rope at once. All the animals fell into a heap, with Baboon at the very bottom. When they picked themselves up, poor Baboon discovered that the long, full hair that had covered his seat was sticking to the tree sap on the rock where he had fallen. From that day on, Baboon's seat has been bare and pink.

Not long after, the rains finally came, and again there was food for all. But whenever the other animals saw Baboon's seat, they remembered the way they had chased their Old Ones away, and they wept for their loss. And they also remembered Rabbit's loyalty and cunning.