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Watership Down

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Watership Down
File:Watership-down.jpg
Puffin Books edition
AuthorRichard Adams
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy, Novel
PublisherRex Collings
Publication date
1972
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Followed byTales from Watership Down 
For the hill named Watership Down, see Watership Down, Hampshire.
For the 1978 animated film see Watership Down (film).
For the television series see Watership Down (TV series).

Watership Down is the title of Richard Adams's first and most successful novel. The novel is about a group of rabbits and is named after a hill in the north of Hampshire, England. This is also the area where Adams grew up. Initially, the story was based on a collection of tales that Adams told to his young children on trips to the countryside. The book endured 13 rejections from publishers before finally being published in the United Kingdom by Rex Collings Ltd in 1972.

The rabbits in the story are significantly less anthropomorphized than typical fictional animals; they do not possess any technology or wear clothing, and have the physical attributes and instincts of their real-life wild counterparts. Nevertheless, they are depicted as sapient and capable of speaking to one another. Furthermore, the author has gone so far as to construct a culture for his rabbits, including a language (Lapine), proverbs, poetry and mythology. More than one chapter consists of pieces of rabbit lore.

Watership Down is often referred to as a classic example of xenofiction. Many editions also include an appendix of Lapine vocabulary. It can thus be considered not an animal fable like the works of Aesop but a genuine heroic fantasy.

Story

Watership Down tells the story of a group of rebellious rabbits who — against the wishes of their Chief Rabbit — escape from their threatened warren. The story follows their subsequent adventures. They find sanctuary in a warren on the down for which the book is titled, but the story continues after this.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler The book opens with the runt rabbit Fiver foreseeing the destruction of the warren. He and his brother, Hazel, try to warn the Chief Rabbit but are turned away. Hazel, who knows Fiver's sixth sense well, organizes a group of dissatisfied rabbits to leave the warren, including his friend Bigwig, who is castigated by the Chief Rabbit for believing Hazel. The dissatisfied group is confronted by the warren's military leader, Holly, but successfully fight him off. The rabbits wander dejected, but Hazel's leadership keeps the band alive and together.

Throughout their journey the rabbits encounter dangers created by humans, by the natural world, and by their own kind. At one point they stumble upon an apparently idyllic warren of beautiful, well-fed rabbits who invite Hazel's group to stay. The rabbits apparently lack the wild, scrabbling life of normal rabbits, and have been able to partake in arts and poetry, although in sharp contrast to wild rabbits they have turned from the teachings of El-ahrairah, the revered mythological rabbit prince. But Fiver sees the warren for what it is - a repressed society in which the rabbits live under the unspoken understanding that they are being harvested by the local farmer.

Eventually the rabbits reach a haven, Watership Down itself, an area of peaceful downland where they build and establish their own warren. As they learn upon their arrival, they left their old warren just in time; Holly and another survivor, Bluebell, catch up with them and tell them of the warren's horrible destruction at the hands of men.

Yet even then they must face the problem of furthering their own society, as the group of rabbits includes no does. And soon their greatest threat is the presence and investigations of a nearby warren, Efrafa, which is run on totalitarian lines and is heavily policed by a regime led by General Woundwort. In order to continue their own warren they must persuade others to join them, but only under the terrible risk of their own destruction by Efrafa.

Eventually, the rabbits manage to infiltrate and convince several does from Efrafa, which has become too large, crowded, and stressful for them to breed any more, to join their warren. General Woundwort, angered that his warren could have been infiltrated, leads an attack against the Watership Down warren. Bigwig, through superior strength and wit, manages to defeat Woundwort in combat, while Hazel leads a dog into the warren to destroy the rest of Efrafa's forces.

By the end of the book, Watership Down and Efrafa (under new leadership) have become friendly and build a new neighbouring warren together.

Template:Endspoiler

One sequel to the book was written, entitled Tales from Watership Down. It takes place after the events in Watership Down, but does not continue the main plotline. Instead, it is a collection of short stories taking place after Watership Down and involving some of the same characters.

Characters

Most of the rabbits in the book have a distinct personality.

The original group that leaves the Sandleford warren, all bucks, consists of the following. (The names are the forms that most commonly appear in the book. These are mostly nicknames: where they have an original "Lapine" name, it is given in parentheses along with its meaning in that language.)

Hazel's rabbits

  • Hazel, the leader, eventually Hazel-rah, the Chief Rabbit. Quiet, but has a talent for bringing out the best in his subordinates. Unlike most chief rabbits, Hazel is not particularly large or strong but rather wins the other rabbits' devotion by making quick, intelligent decisions.
  • Fiver (Hrairoo, "Little Thousand"; hrair is any uncountable large number, and since rabbits can only count to four, the fifth kitten in a litter is the thousandth), Hazel's little brother. Small and weak but also the seer of the group. He has prophetic dreams and can sense all sorts of danger.
  • Dandelion, the storyteller (an extremely important job in Lapine society) and fastest rabbit of the group.
  • Blackberry, the thinker and problem-solver. Blackberry is able to understand complicated concepts, such as boats, that the other rabbits cannot even conceive.
  • Bigwig (known in Lapine as Thlayli, meaning "Fur-head"), the best fighter and the strongest rabbit of the group. A member of the Owsla (elite soldiers) of Sandleford warren.
  • Silver, with silver fur. The main fighter besides Bigwig, and also a member of the Sandleford Owsla. He is also the nephew of the Sandleford Chief Rabbit.
  • Buckthorn, also a fighter, and known for being stolid and dependable.
  • Pipkin (Hlao, "Depression in grass" affectionately Hlao-roo), small and weak but also very loyal to Hazel.
  • Speedwell, Acorn, Hawkbit, who are rather unremarkable, soldiers rather than officers.

They are later joined by:

  • Strawberry, from Cowslip's warren.
  • Holly, former Captain of the Sandleford Owsla and a master fighter and tracker. Like Bigwig, a born second-in-command.
  • Bluebell, the jokester, a rabbit of the Sandleford warren who ends up following after and protecting Holly on his journey to Watership Down.
  • Three hutch rabbits: one buck, Boxwood, and two does, Haystack and Clover. (Another buck, Laurel, is left behind).
  • Blackavar, Efrafan rebel and prisoner. This former Efraran was rejected from their Owsla despite his expert tracking skills.
  • Eight Efrafan does (originally ten, but two died during the escape from Efrafa). Most notable among the surviving does are Hyzenthlay ("Shine-dew-fur," Fur shining like dew), who is the ringleader of the rebellious does in Efrafa and has some of the abilities of a seer; Thethuthinnang (Movement of Leaves); and Vilthuril, who becomes Fiver's mate and the mother of his kittens, including one who by the end of the book has started to show prophetic abilities of his own.

Non-rabbit allies

  • Kehaar, the gull - a migratory black-headed gull whose injured wing forces him to take refuge on Watership Down. He later befriends the rabbits and helps in many unexpected circumstances.
  • The unnamed mouse whom Hazel saves from a kestrel. He returns the favor by warning the warren of the Efrafans coming to attack them.

Enemies

  • General Woundwort, a militaristic rabbit warlord; the chief rabbit and founder of Efrafa.
  • Vervain, Woundwort's lieutenant and commander of his Owslafa.
  • Campion, a Captain of Owsla; a superb tracker and leader of Woundwort's wide patrols.
  • Cowslip, the leader of a warren of rabbits (known later by Hazel's group as the Warren of the Snares) who are 'harvested' for food by a human.
  • Various elil (predators) who are the enemies of all rabbits. Elil are termed 'the Thousand' or 'U embleer hrair,' the stinking (as in a fox) thousand.

Woundwort, vervain, campion and cowslip are all types of native flowering plants found in England, where Watership Down is set.

Characters in rabbit lore

  • El-ahrairah, the "prince with a thousand enemies", is the folk hero at the center of most of the rabbits' stories. As time passes the adventures of real living rabbits are transformed into fantastical tales of El-ahrairah. (El-ahrairah and his stories do resemble Odysseus and his travels to some extent.)
  • Rabscuttle, El-ahrairah's best friend and companion in adventure.
  • The Black Rabbit of Inlé, the rabbit grim reaper. A servant of Frith who ensures that all rabbits die at their appointed time, and those that harm rabbits unnecessarily are punished. Inle is the moon.
  • Frith, literally "the sun", is a god-figure who created the world and promised that rabbits would always be allowed to thrive.
  • Prince Rainbow, a demigod-figure who communicates between El-ahrairah and Frith. He is always trying to beat El-ahrairah at his own devious games.

Interpretation and influence

Watership Down is notable as an ensemble story, with multiple protagonists who each serve a useful function under quietly competent leadership. Although Adams has always stated that the book was intended to be a children's story, many fans see the book as a political allegory attacking fascism and appeasement as Animal Farm attacked Stalinism. This opinion is supported by a plot involving visits to two other warrens whose political philosophies are depicted as antagonistic and repugnant. One of these is known only as Cowslip's Warren: the rabbits there grow fat on food left out for them by a local farmer, yet it is common knowledge (but never openly said) that the farmer has wire traps set out to catch the rabbits; these rabbits accept the risk of sudden death for the benefit of an easy life. The other is Efrafa, ruled with a merciless iron fist by the powerful and insane General Woundwort who becomes the story's principal antagonist.

Myxomatosis (or in Lapine terminology, "The white blindness"), a terrible and highly infectious rabbit disease, is referred to early in the book. It was a threat that could have destroyed the Sandleford warren if not for the tough but reasonable leadership of the chief rabbit, who cast out any rabbits showing signs of sickness. The original impetus for General Woundwort keeping the Efrafan warren under tight control is to guard it against the dreaded illness. However, his strict measures went over the top and the Efrafan rabbits found themselves living under a military dictatorship where they cannot even leave the burrows without presence of guards. The underlying message (as it is often interpreted) is that societies overrun with fear are more susceptible to accepting leadership that purports to offer safety in place of liberty.

Adams has gone so far as to state that the personalities of the two principal hero rabbits, Hazel and Bigwig, are based on fellow officers he knew while a paratrooper during World War II.

Adams' father makes a cameo appearance (as "Doctor Adams") near the end of the book, in a chapter entitled "Dea Ex Machina" after the deus ex machina literary technique.

Watership Down has become a modern classic and won the Carnegie Medal in 1972. In 1978 the book was adapted as an acclaimed animated film, directed by Martin Rosen. In 1999, an animated television series, Watership Down, was also coproduced by Martin Rosen.

  • In 1996, Adams wrote a sequel of sorts, a collection of linked short stories titled Tales from Watership Down. This book provided much of the basis for the 1999 TV series.
  • In 2003, Watership Down came 42nd in a public vote for the 100 greatest books of all time taken by the BBC.

Religious significance

The religious subtleties in the book may either parody or parallel Western religious concepts. Similarities between the Lapine folk hero El-ahrairah and the Trickster of folk mythology are apparent. The exaggeration of the heroic feats of El-ahrairah and the progressive attribution of new feats to his symbolic character, the recognition of the Sun as the god Frith in the absence of a scientific explanation of nature, and the attribution of random accidents to divine providence (such as the train death of the Efrafans on the railroad track) are notable in light of the cultural development of folk religion.

Cultural references

  • The RPG Bunnies and Burrows is unofficially based on Watership Down.
  • Watership Down has been credited by George Lucas for providing inspiration in creating a "fictional universe" in Star Wars.
  • The ABC Television show Lost references Watership Down by having the fictional character Sawyer read the book on that show, in the episode entitled "White Rabbit". Sawyer comments that "It's about bunnies." Also the first season has similarities to the novel. The "White Rabbit" episode's title is actually culled from another classic children's book, "Alice in Wonderland."
  • The Director's Cut version of Donnie Darko includes references to and clips from the Watership Down movie.
  • On The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert keeps a copy on a bookshelf labeled "non-fiction".
  • In Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, when Gromit turns on the van's radio in one scene, the song "Bright Eyes" from the Watership Down movie is heard.
  • In the Stephen King novel titled The Stand, one of the main characters, Stu Redman, has read Watership Down and uses the book's concept of "going tharn", or freezing in catatonic panic, to describe how another character makes him feel as Stu tries to escape the Vermont plague facility holding him captive. Later, Stu says that another character, Harold Lauder reminds him of Silver, or Silverweed.
  • In the revised version of King's novel The Gunslinger, some rabbits are described as being at silflay, which is lapine-language for grazing. Also, in The Wasteland, Eddie mentions that the name "Shardik" makes him think of rabbits, alluding to this and another of Adams' books.
  • Gundam model kits named after Hazel, Hazel-rah, and Hrududu have been released by Bandai. Mobile weapons named Kehaar and Bigwig also appear in novels, although none exist in kit form. All of these mobile suit designs exist in The Flag of Titans, a side story of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
  • Alternative metal act Atomship originally formed under the name Watership Down.
  • Big Brother fanshow Big Brother's Little Brother featured in 2006 a rabbit shaped topiary in which a camera was fitted. In every show Dermot O' Leary showed highlights from this camera, preluded by himself and the audience members raising cigarette lighters and singing Bright Eyes.
  • Gerry Beckley of the 1970s supergroup America penned a theme song for the "Watership Down" animated film. The song was not used for the film, but the group included it on their 1976 album "Hideaway." According to Beckley, singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, who loved the book, helped Beckley with the song offering critiques and suggestions.

Editions

There have been over 300 editions of Watership Down in English - these are just a few of the ones known.

UK editions

  • ISBN 0140306013 (Puffin, paperback, 1973)
  • ISBN 0140039589 (Penguin, paperback, 1974)
  • ISBN 0140364536 (Puffin Modern Classics, paperback, 1993)
  • ISBN 0141186666 (Penguin Modern Classics, paperback, 2001)

US editions

Translations

  • Danish: Kaninbjerget (The Rabbit Mountain)
  • Dutch: Waterschapsheuvel (Watership Hill)
  • Finnish: Ruohometsän kansa (Folk of the Grass Forest)
  • French: Les Garennes de Watership Down (The Warrens of Watership Down)
  • German: Unten am Fluss (Down by the River)
  • Hebrew: גבעת ווטרשיפ (Watership Hill)
  • Hungarian: Gesztenye, a honalapító (Hazel, the Founding Father)
  • Italian: La collina dei conigli (The Rabbits' Hill)
  • Japanese: ウォーターシップ・ダウンのうさぎたち (Watership Down no Usagi-tachi, "The Rabbits of Watership Down")
  • Korean: 워터십 다운의 토끼 (Woteosip Daunui Tokki, "Rabbits of Watership Down") and 워터십 다운의 열한 마리 토끼 (Woteosip Daunui Yeolhan Mari Tokki, "Eleven Rabbits of Watership Down")
  • Norwegian: Flukten til Watership (The Escape to Watership)
  • Polish: Wodnikowe wzgorze (Aquarius Hill)
  • Portuguese: A Longa Jornada (The Long Journey)
  • Serbian: Брежуљак Вотершип/Brežuljak Voteršip (Watership Mound or Watership Ridge)
  • Spanish: La Colina de Watership (Watership Hill)
  • Swedish: Den långa flykten (The Long Escape)
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