The theme that I have chosen is that of talking animals. The first story, "The Three Hares", tells the tale of a father rabbit instructing his three young children that it is time to move off onto their own. The first decided that he was sick of living in a dark den and made his home out of leaves, moss, sticks, brushwood and tufts of bushes. When he grew hungry he wandered into the field and was approached by a wolf, who chased him back to his house. Since it was made of easily destructed materials, the wolf had no trouble breaking it down and eating the rabbit. The second rabbit felt that he too was sick of living in a dark den and so made his house from the roots of a tree. When he came across the fox and was also chased back to his house, the fox was again able to easily break through the material and eat the rabbit. The third rabbit dhimself a den, that was deeper and longer than his father's and this time when the fox chased aftug er him, he was unable to get to t!
             he rabbit and he lived safely forever.
             The second story, "The Monkey and the Crocodile" is a tale of wits. The crocodile's mother told him to fetch her a monkey's heart. To trick the monkey into the water he tells him that he could ride across the water on his back to get to the ripe fruit on the island. While they were going across the river, the crocodile dove into the water and tried to drown the monkey, explaining that he needs to retrieve his heart. The monkey, in turn tricks him by saying that his heart is up in the tree and he must go back for it. When the crocodile took him back to the land, the monkey climbed safely up the tree and said, "My heart is way up here! If you want it, come for it, come for it!" (Cole, 594).
             I found these stories to be quite different. The first story has the traditional opening and closing of "Once upon a time" and "May he live safely forever". The second on the other hand gives no concept of the past, b...