Author: Elsie Spicer Eells

Once upon a time, there was a king who was very sick. He wanted a hare to be caught to make him some broth. His only son, the prince, went out to find one. As the prince walked along the path to the forest, a cute little hare ran out of the bushes and crossed his path. He immediately started chasing it. The hare was very fast. The prince followed it deep into the forest. Suddenly, the hare ran into a hole in the ground. The prince kept it in sight and soon found himself in a big cave. At the back of the cave, there was the biggest giant he had ever seen.

The prince was very scared. "Oh, ho!" said the giant in a deep, rough voice that echoed through the cave. "You thought you'd catch my little hare, did you? Well, I've caught you instead!"

The giant grabbed the prince with one of his huge hands and tossed him into a box at one end of the cave. He put the lid on the box and locked it with a big key. The prince could only get a tiny bit of air through a small hole in the top, and he thought he might not survive. Hours passed. Sometimes the prince slept, but more often he lay there thinking about his sick father and how he could ever escape the box and return to his father's side.