RABBIT

Abelardo Castillo

And anyone who causes one of these to stumble

little ones who believe in me, it would be better for them if they were

hang a millstone around his neck, and

it would drown in the depths of the sea.
MATTHEW, XVIII: 6

He is not going to come. The illness and that it will take a few months are lies; that bothers me.

Aunt said it, but I know she is not going to come. I can tell you because you understand the
things. You always understood things. At first, it seemed to me that you were like a train or
like skates, a toy, I mean, and maybe not even as good as skates,
that a stuffed rabbit is ultimately similar to dolls, which are for girls. But
You no. You are the best rabbit in the world, and much better than the skates. And the dolls.
they have those red, round cheeks. Foolish faces, that's what they have.
I don't care if it's not there. What do I care? And I didn't come to this corner because
I am sad, I came because they are after you, what do you want and what do you want, kid?
just petting, like when you are sick and they keep touching your forehead, it seems like they
Uncles and the others are there for when one gets sick and then everyone wants you.
That's why I came here, and because of that stupid Julio, that glasses-wearing guy, just because he's eleven years old.

And he wears glasses, he thinks he's very clever, and he's a turkey who can't see from here to the door and on top of that

He always keeps hitting. He laughs because I play with you, look at him, he says, look at the little boy.

playing the arrorro. What does he know. The big ones hit too. The mothers, especially.
Of course, all the boys get hit and that doesn't mean anything, but still, why
They always have to be hitting. You, by the way, go as calmly as possible and tell them look at this.
what I did, believing that it was okay, and bam, a slap in the face. They don't explain anything to you or anything. And other times

pure mime, like now, or like when they give you a gift because it's convenient for them, even though
It is neither Three Kings' Day nor the birthday.

I remember when she brought you. At first, you were almost as tall as me, and you were
white, whiter than now because now you are dirty, but you are still the best rabbit of
everyone, because you understand things. And how he brought you I also remember, here, he told me, the
I bought in Olavarría. My cousin Juan Carlos who lives in Olavarría has never liked me.
a lot: those mustaches he has, and also he is not a cousin like Julio, for example,
who is just a little bigger than me. He is one of those cousins of one’s parents that one
You never know if they are uncles or what. It was a big box, and I thought it would be a gift.
extraordinary, something with an engine, like the little Russian's plane or something like that. But it was light and

when I untied it you were inside, among the papers. I didn't like a rabbit. And
she asked me why I was staying like this, like the fool that I was, and I told her I don't like this

Not at all to me, look at the head he has. Then he said ungrateful just like your father.
Later, when dad came home from work, I was still angry and that was despite the fact that I had been

a month in Olavarría, far from dad, and dad always tells me to write to your mother that
We miss her a lot and hope she comes soon, but it seems to me that he is the one who misses her the most.

that night they fought. They always fight, well: dad doesn't, he doesn't say anything and just comes.

with me to the door or to the little square Martín Fierro that dad told me was a gaucho.
dad never liked cousin Juan Carlos either. And I won't take you to the little square, but
because I'm afraid that the kids will laugh. They who know how you are. They don't have the
Of course, it's your fault; you have to be known. At first, I also thought you were a toy.
like wooden horses, or dogs, which are not the best toys. But later
No, then I realized that you were like Pinocchio, the one mom told. She used to tell stories.

stories, in the morning above all, which is when she is never angry. And in the end you and I
we're done friends, better than with real friends, the guys from the neighborhood I mean, that
if you don't know how to play ball, they'll immediately start shouting clumsy at you, go to the goal

you want, and bad words and even in front of the girls they yell at you, which is the worst. Once
They told me why don't you bring your little brother so you can play together, and they laughed. Because of you, I...

They said it, for my teeth that look like yours. It seems to me that they brought you to
I propose to you, for the teeth.
They all came, just like when the pneumonia. And now just making caresses, they think.
that one is a little boy or a fool. Or maybe they know what it is, just like with the Kings and
all of that, which everyone puts on a face of not knowing and it's like a game. And even though Julio
he shouldn't have said anything, it would have been the same, but Julio, that garbage, why did he have to

come to tell me. It was preferable for him to insult or look for a fight like
always and not that he came to say that nonsense. If I had already realized the same.
Dad is like this, looking drunk, and says he's doing this to me. And they ask him to stop.
Calm down, I am watching it. So I came to talk to you, who understands it.
one and you are almost much better than the train and I wouldn't change you for a plane like the little Russian's.

If they ever thought that I would love you this much, they wouldn't bring you as a gift, no. And no one goes

to cry like a baby because she is sick and cannot return for a while. And yes
Those are better lies. Oscarcito wasn't crying either.

That day, many people had also come, but it was different. In the large room there was a
coffin for Oscarcito's mom. She was pale. Oscarcito seemed not to
understand nothing, he looked at all the boys, but he didn't cry, they told him that his mom
She was in heaven. And this is different. My mom is not in heaven, she is in Olavarría.
Julio, that garbage told me, but maybe she went sick to some other place.
side and why it can't be. Everyone says so.
Everyone except cousin Juan Carlos, who is also not here. And it's better if he isn't, because I don't...

I liked it never no matter how much she said you have to love it a lot, and once I went to
Olavarría wouldn't let them stay alone. Go play in the yard, they always wanted them to.
I was going to play in the yard: she was too. And then just giving away rabbits, yes. They think that
One doesn't realize, like now, that if I were sick, I don't know why they keep going around.

advising dad and he looks at me, and keeps looking at me and says son, son. And sometimes I
I want to reply to him about something, but I can't think of anything, because it's like a knot.

That's why I came. And not to cry quietly without being seen. I came because I wanted to.
talking to you who understands one, and you are the best rabbit of all, the best in the world
with those long ears, and two teeth sticking out, like me when I laugh.
I don't think I'm going to laugh ever again in my life. That's what I think.
And in the end, no one cares a bit about the teeth, because I love you just the same and I
I want to because I want to, just because I feel like it. Not because she brought you and it’s better if she doesn’t come back.

I hope he dies. And what I'm seeing is that that head you have is not pretty at all, no, and
If I want, let's see if I don't throw you in the trash, because in the end, I never liked you.
Not at all, you. And what you will gain is that I'm going to break everything, your teeth, and your ears.
and those glassy red eyes like the stupid ones, just like that, without making me feel any desire to

cry or anything, no matter how much I tear your arm off and spit everything at you, and you think I'm
crying, but I don't cry, even though I kick you on the ground, like this, even if everything falls out of you

sawdust for the belly and your head hanging down, because I have the train and the
skates and...
 Whencreatingastory,doyouthinkofaplotfirstandthenadaptthecharacterstoit,ordoyou.
Think first about the characters and games, is there a story behind them?

In reality, when I come up with a story, I think about the ending of an event, that event implies the whole story.
In 'The Mother of Ernesto', for example, the fact that the mother asks about her son is all
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The only thing that needs to be done is to justify that ending. Regarding the problem of the characters, there are storytellers who create
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. uirogacreatesin,additontonarratviesituationsc,haracters

extraordinary. Borges, on the other hand, does not need to create characters, as Kafka did not need to create characters either.
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What characters could come to mind resembling those in Don Quixote, without Don Quixote, without Sancho.

Rabbit, by the way, is practically one of my few autobiographical stories: my parents separated and I
I felt that as an abandonment. Undoubtedly, that was traumatic, especially for the time it happened: today it is
It was very common to be the child of a separated marriage, but in the 1940s... I remember a phrase that marked me.
a lot when I was eight or nine years old: I was walking through Terrero and I heard a boy saying 'this is the one who '
"the old woman left us." I would also say that I didn't experience it with drama: for me, it was like a recovery of the
freedom. Saying it this way may give the impression of coldness or disdain, but I didn't get along well with my mother, who
I had a very strong character, and yes, in contrast, with my father, who was much more gentle. My aunt, on the other hand,

part, she was like a surrogate mother.

2) Reading comprehension guidelines

A. Who narrates this story? From what perspective? To whom is it addressed?

B. What interpretations does the narrator make about the adult world? Why do you
Does it seem like he thinks that way?

C. What transformation occurs at the end of the story regarding the deal with the
rabbit? Why do you think this happens?

D. What interpretation can you make regarding the caption and its relationship with the
tale?

3) Some theoretical questions to continue reading 'Rabbit'

The story read could be framed within the calledcoming-of-age genre or learning story , that
refers to the evolution of a character from childhood to maturity, whether from the perspective
of physical, moral, psychological and/or social development.

The author José Luis de Diego points out the following characteristics of this genre:
a) The development of a character -usually a young person- is narrated through
successive experiences that affect his position before himself, and before the
world and things; therefore, the hero becomes a structuring principle
of the work; b) fulfills -or seeks to fulfill- a moralizing function, either positive
-model to imitate- or negative -model to reject-, regardless of the greater
the least presence of the authorial voice

A. After reading the definitions about the initiation story: How

Would you justify that the story "Rabbit" is part of this genre?