So a rabbit stuck in his own rabbit hole says that there issomething special and uniquely valuable in his rabbit hole that other rabbitsstuck in their rabbit holes don't have?  Happier, wiser -perhaps a little more smug?

A mystery then Lakeshore.  I like mysteries.

So how then is it that this wise rabbit - stuck in his own hole - is able to know that what he has in his hole is more valuable than what others havein theirs? 

Well there is a story behind that and the wise rabbit explains. Onceupon a time - a long time ago- another rabbit - who happened to say that he was a verywise rabbit indeed - came by and told him that if he spent  just 30 min aday down in his hole sniffing his own tail then he would find that it had it'sown special aroma and that to experience this was to have his own unique 'selfknowledge' and that this simple thing was in fact the very purpose of a rabbit'slife.  But before leaving (well the very wise rabbit was too busy andimportant to have actually visited - all the while he had actually been faraway on a TV screen) the very wise rabbit also told him that - simple as it may seem - this Knowledge was infact such a great and special secret that only the very wise rabbit himself wasqualified to talk about and to pass  on to other rabbits.  Healso explained that - while he always passed this special secret on freely - itcan unfortunately be easy to forget exactly how and where to sniff - and so itwould be a good idea for rabbits that had been told the secret to alwayslisten more to the very wise rabbit whenever and wherever they could. A few other wise rabbits then all commented that the seats at the venues andpictures of the very wise rabbit were just so worth it  - and given the immenseimportance of what the very wise rabbit was teaching it was just such a privilege to be one of the few to hear him. And the wise rabbit thought well yes  - it must be a privilege - how few we are -- maybe I'm even a bit special to have been picked out?

Well at first the wise rabbit did confess to feeling a little confused.Well yes he could sniff his tail - and yes it did have a certain aroma - and hefelt a little light headed after a full 30 min of sniffing - but it didn't quitefeel like his purpose?  perhaps he wasn'tsniffing right?  So he went to a meetingwith lots of other wise rabbits to listen to the very wise rabbit explain somemore.  And of course all was explained -yes sniffing was part of the purpose - but like a three legged stool -it only really worked if you also spent a bit of time or money helping the verywise rabbit in his noble mission to teach other rabbits - and of courseattending closely to what the very wise rabbit says.  And of course to remember that the reallyunique thing compared to the teachings of other purportedly wise rabbits wasthat what the very wise rabbit taught was really real! It was - exactly as the very wise rabbit explained - an actual experience and not just some belief ! Well wise rabbit can yousmell the aroma of your tail? Yes I can -I really can  --that aroma is really there and it is real -so its not just a belief.  And gradually,over the years , the wise rabbit became wiser and grew in theknowledge of the secret aroma.  Not just some belief but indeed a certain knowledge - and so in the end (whisper it -is anyonelistening?) he came even to know a deeper purpose - and finally the wise rabbitlearned to love the very wise rabbit - and to follow him everywhere and to hangon his every word. 

So that is the story of how the wise rabbit came to really know thatwhat was in his hole was better than in any other hole - and that was why hestopped looking anywhere else and stayed in the same hole for the rest of his life.  

Curiously though - while he thenceforth spent more time stuck in his own hole than virtually any other rabbit in the neighbourhood he always regarded all the other rabbits as mostly being stuck in their own holes.  But of course he didn't get out much to know.

But rabbitsaren't the brightest of animals

Tim

Thanks fortriggering that silly story LS -and for the usual good read