The Hare and the Dog

Children's play "The Hare and the Dog"

Idea for the story "The Hare and the Dog"

The idea for the story comes from one of the most famous and shortest Slovenian folk tales, in which the dog chases the hare because the hare stole his shoes, but to this day he still hasn't caught him. In the story, the hare and the dog are neighbors who are constantly watching each other, comparing themselves and competing with one another. The hare tells the story of why the dog chases him, from his point of view, and his account is completely different from the dog's.

They are different in many ways. The dog wears sneakers, the hare wears shoes. The hare likes carrots, the dog likes sausages. One hears better, the other smells better. But they also have something in common – they both love to run, chase, and play. A tree grows between their houses. The hare says it is his, and the dog claims it is his. When they realize that their attempt to claim or even violently divide the tree would be disastrous for the many animals that live in the safe shelter of its trunk and canopy, they understand that some things in nature cannot be owned because they belong to everyone.

In the end, the dog and the hare race to the tree, and that is how we find out who is really faster. The outcome of the contest is surprising – friendship unexpectedly blossoms beneath the tree. Thus we arrive at the moral of the story: the things we love are meant to be shared with our friends.