Plot
The dark plot of Watership Down
PART 1-THE JOURNEY
The story begins in Sandleford Warren where two rabbits named Hazel and Fiver are enjoying a nice evening,until Fiver senses that sooner or later,the field will be covered in blood.Later that night,Hazel and Fiver go see the chief rabbit only to be stopped by Holly and Bigwig,Hazel however convinces Bigwig to let them in.After the talk as to which the chief rabbit was confused about Fiver's vision,Bigwig is let go of the Owsla and goes off with Hazel and Fiver along with the other rabbits of Sandleford(who Fiver convinced to go) to find a new home.After many hardships of getting to the promised land,a rabbit named Silver begins talking with Fiver about his visions, until Bigwig steps in and tells them to shut up,only to be stopped by the rabbit Blackberry who lets them know that a rabbit has offered his warren for shelter,the rabbit's name is Cowslip.There are many strange things in Cowslip's warren,a"sculpture" of the folk hero rabbit El-ahrairah which Hazel is confused about,plenty of food,underappreciation of the stories of El-ahrairah,told by a Sandleford rabbit named Dandelion(who is considered a very good storyteller),and a poet named Silverweed who convinces Fiver to leave.Hazel and Bigwig catch up to him and talk to him about his feelings.Bigwig is fed up with Fiver's visions and wants to make sure everyone else is to,only to get caught in a snare.Fiver goes back to the warren and brings everyone to help,except Cowslip,a young rabbit named Pipkin stated that Cowslip wanted Fiver to stop talking about Bigwig's dilemma.Blackberry finds out that a peg is holding the snare and uses Fiver and Pipkin to dig it out.Bigwig is presumed dead,until he regains consiousness due to learning about Cowslip's selfishness(or according to Pipkin,not in the exact words,blindness),knowing Bigwig is alive,they continue to find their new home and an former rabbit of Cowslip's warren,named Strawberry, goes with them and leaves behind Cowslip.
PART 2-ON WATERSHIP DOWN
After a long and tiring journey,Hazel,Silver,Blackberry,Bigwig,Dandelion,Fiver,Pipkin,Starwberry,and all the other rabbits of Sandleford make it to their new warren,just as Fiver predicted,the new warren is dubbed,Watership Down.Upon arrival,the rabbits build a big wide open space in the warren to talk,play or just eat.Later,the Watership Down rabbits encounter Holly who tells them all about the destruction of Sandleford,many of the rabbits who didn't go have died due to man's "work" they buried the holes,and left rabbits to die,only Holly and some of the other Owsla escaped,but Holly was captured by the warren Efrafa,who narrowly escaped but had to leave behind a doe named Hyzenthlay.The next day, a gull has crashed landed at Watership Down,the rabbits give the gull,named Kehaar,hospitality,but he doesn't seem so grateful at first since he constantly curses at them,but he has a reason,he was attacked by a farm cat,regardless,he still drives off the enemies of the rabbits like kestrals.Hazel and Blackberry realize that there are too many bucks and no does at all in Watership Down,Kehaar has an injured wing,so he can't scout the land,so Hazel and Pipkin go to Nuthanger Farm to find does.They meet Boxwood,Laurel,Clover,and Haystack and help them escape,but they are stopped by a tabby and are forced to run until further notice.A few days later,Hazel,Dandelion,and Blackberry go back to the farm to rescue the rabbits,they rescue them,but are stopped by a cat,not Hazel's tabby,but a cat regardless,with wits and speed,Blackberry and Dandelion escape,but Hazel is shot.Upon arrival back to Watership Down,Blackberry gives Fiver the bad news,Fiver knows that Hazel is not dead and goes off to find him with Blackberry,Hazel is fine and with the help of Kehaar(who's wing is better now),gets better in terms of leg damage.Holly tells more about Efrafa and that they have a lot of does,but not many bucks,so all the Watership Down rabbits go to find Efrafa,but only Bigwig wishes to go,and purposley gets caught to get into Efrafa.
PART 3-EFRAFA
The leader of Efrafa,General Woundwort is greeted by Captain Chervil and Captain Campion,as well as a different rabbit,clearly not from Efrafa who claims he wants to join Efrafa,which puzzles Woundwort,until he explains all about his previous Owsla and explains he went on his own free will,then gives his name,Thlayli(which was Bigwig's Lapine name,see Lapine dictionary for details,Bigwig had made it to Efrafa!)Campion then gives Thlayli a mark so that would determine his work space,in this case,Thlayli works in the Left Hind Mark.Chervil tells Bigwig his responsibilities and shows him around Efrafa,where he meets up with Hyzenthlay,the doe that tried to escape with Holly,and even poor,poor Blackavar who has tried to escape many times,but as a result has given many scars and scratches,mostly by the rabbit Vervain.Later,Bigwig meets with Hyzenthlay and tells her about Watership Down and his plan to escape,she wishes to bring many does with her and Blackavar,Bigwig knows that this will be trouble though,and needs help from Kehaar.Kehaar on the behalf of Hazel meets Bigwig and tells him about his plan,Kehaar makes such a loud racket over the conversation that Woundwort and Campion get suspicious and start to talk with Bigwig,luckily,he covered up his tracks very carefully.The next day was stormy,which Bigwig decided was the day to execute his plan,Bigwig,Hyzenthlay,Blackavar,and all the other does of efrafa make a run for it,with General Woundwort,Campion,Avens,Vervain,Chervil,and a rabbit named Groundsel hot on their tails.When the escapees reached a bridge,Kehaar was waiting for them,attacking Woundwort,ghiving Bigwig and the others a chance to escape,finally,they met up with Hazel and everyone else,who had been waiting at a riverbend next to a boat,and narrowly escaped Woundwort,but he was certainly not giving up.
PART 4-HAZEl-RAH
Even though,Hazel and the others had escaped Woundwort,Kehaar noticing that there are bridges,tells the rabbits about them,allowing Woundwort and his Owsla to get them easily,they would have no choice but to swim.The bank wasn't very far,but the rabbits stiil had trouble swimming,luckily,Kehaar was generous enough to help them,Hazel soon notices Blackavar and begans to talk to him,Blackavar's mother wasn't an Efrafa doe,but she mated with an Efrafa rabbit,giving birth to him.While Hazel and Blackavar were talking,Kehaar,noticing that his work at Watership Down was done,went back to his home,The Pig Vater as he called it.On the way back,Hazel and Hyzenthlay begin to build a relationship,until Campion and the police come,but after talking with Hazel and Bigwig,they leave to report to Woundwort.The next day at sunset,the Efrafa rabbits begin their journey to Watership Down to kill Bigwig and his afilliates,Hazel decides to cover up all the holes to buy them some time to attack.Fiver,however,begins trembling and having a very scary vision about a dog loose in the wood,giving Hazel an idea,he leaves to Nuthanger Farm with Blackberry and Dandelion to get the dog loose,as Fiver "predicted.While they were gone,the Efrafans come and begin to attack Watership Down,Woundwort is determined to find and kill Bigwig,if it's the last thing he does.When Hazel,Dandelion and Blackberry got to the farm,Hazel had Blackberry and Dandelion wait to lure the dog to Watership Down,it was still asleep,so Hazel chewed the rope that was holding the dog and then thumped loudly,leaving Blackberry and Dandelion to bring the dog back,Hazel's job was finished,and headed back to,until pounced on by a cat,the same tabby that Hazel met when he went to Nuthanger Farm the first time.A little girl just woke up and saw what the cat was doing,and brought Hazel in,she wanted to keep him,but her father wouldn't allow it,so they took Hazel to the doctor to get healed from his injury and take him home.Meanwhile,Woundwort was looking for Bigwig,who was encased in sand,and sprung out at him,both were going at it,tooth and claw,Kehaar wasn't here anymore,so Bigwig had to fight as much as he could,but then Campion screamed that there was a dog and for evryone to run,Woundwort ran out of the warren and came face to face with the dog,and both lunged at eachother looking for a kill. Hazel had come home and everyone was happy to see him and told him about Woundwort's body wasn't found after the dog incident,and Bigwig,was very bloody,but alive,and very happy to see Hazel.Some springs later,Efrafa and Watership Down agree to co-exist in a place called Vleflain,created by a rabbit named Grounsel who is the new chief rabbit and dubs Campion captain of it.Meanwhile,new baby kittens are running around the warren,gay and healthy,one in particular,hears a hrududu(See lapine dictionary) and a man very far away,but it would make sense since it is Fiver's son,then everyone goes underground,talking about the new Fiver.
EPILOGUE
Many,many springs later,on a cold,blustery day in March,Hazel,now old and tired,hears his name being called out by none other than The Black Rabbit of Inle,ready to take him to heaven,but at the same time,El-ahrairah wants Hazel to join his Owsla.Hazel looks at his warren one last time before dieing and going on a lifelong journey with El-ahrairah forever,with Frith's word echoing;"All the world will be your enemy,prince with a thousand enemies,and whenever they catch you,they will kill you,but first,they must catch you.Digger,listener,runner,prince of the swift warning,be cunning and full of tricks,and your people will never be destroyed."Thus ending Watership Down and giving us an emotional feel,knowing Hazel can never truley die.
The story begins in Sandleford Warren where two rabbits named Hazel and Fiver are enjoying a nice evening,until Fiver senses that sooner or later,the field will be covered in blood.Later that night,Hazel and Fiver go see the chief rabbit only to be stopped by Holly and Bigwig,Hazel however convinces Bigwig to let them in.After the talk as to which the chief rabbit was confused about Fiver's vision,Bigwig is let go of the Owsla and goes off with Hazel and Fiver along with the other rabbits of Sandleford(who Fiver convinced to go) to find a new home.After many hardships of getting to the promised land,a rabbit named Silver begins talking with Fiver about his visions, until Bigwig steps in and tells them to shut up,only to be stopped by the rabbit Blackberry who lets them know that a rabbit has offered his warren for shelter,the rabbit's name is Cowslip.There are many strange things in Cowslip's warren,a"sculpture" of the folk hero rabbit El-ahrairah which Hazel is confused about,plenty of food,underappreciation of the stories of El-ahrairah,told by a Sandleford rabbit named Dandelion(who is considered a very good storyteller),and a poet named Silverweed who convinces Fiver to leave.Hazel and Bigwig catch up to him and talk to him about his feelings.Bigwig is fed up with Fiver's visions and wants to make sure everyone else is to,only to get caught in a snare.Fiver goes back to the warren and brings everyone to help,except Cowslip,a young rabbit named Pipkin stated that Cowslip wanted Fiver to stop talking about Bigwig's dilemma.Blackberry finds out that a peg is holding the snare and uses Fiver and Pipkin to dig it out.Bigwig is presumed dead,until he regains consiousness due to learning about Cowslip's selfishness(or according to Pipkin,not in the exact words,blindness),knowing Bigwig is alive,they continue to find their new home and an former rabbit of Cowslip's warren,named Strawberry, goes with them and leaves behind Cowslip.
PART 2-ON WATERSHIP DOWN
After a long and tiring journey,Hazel,Silver,Blackberry,Bigwig,Dandelion,Fiver,Pipkin,Starwberry,and all the other rabbits of Sandleford make it to their new warren,just as Fiver predicted,the new warren is dubbed,Watership Down.Upon arrival,the rabbits build a big wide open space in the warren to talk,play or just eat.Later,the Watership Down rabbits encounter Holly who tells them all about the destruction of Sandleford,many of the rabbits who didn't go have died due to man's "work" they buried the holes,and left rabbits to die,only Holly and some of the other Owsla escaped,but Holly was captured by the warren Efrafa,who narrowly escaped but had to leave behind a doe named Hyzenthlay.The next day, a gull has crashed landed at Watership Down,the rabbits give the gull,named Kehaar,hospitality,but he doesn't seem so grateful at first since he constantly curses at them,but he has a reason,he was attacked by a farm cat,regardless,he still drives off the enemies of the rabbits like kestrals.Hazel and Blackberry realize that there are too many bucks and no does at all in Watership Down,Kehaar has an injured wing,so he can't scout the land,so Hazel and Pipkin go to Nuthanger Farm to find does.They meet Boxwood,Laurel,Clover,and Haystack and help them escape,but they are stopped by a tabby and are forced to run until further notice.A few days later,Hazel,Dandelion,and Blackberry go back to the farm to rescue the rabbits,they rescue them,but are stopped by a cat,not Hazel's tabby,but a cat regardless,with wits and speed,Blackberry and Dandelion escape,but Hazel is shot.Upon arrival back to Watership Down,Blackberry gives Fiver the bad news,Fiver knows that Hazel is not dead and goes off to find him with Blackberry,Hazel is fine and with the help of Kehaar(who's wing is better now),gets better in terms of leg damage.Holly tells more about Efrafa and that they have a lot of does,but not many bucks,so all the Watership Down rabbits go to find Efrafa,but only Bigwig wishes to go,and purposley gets caught to get into Efrafa.
PART 3-EFRAFA
The leader of Efrafa,General Woundwort is greeted by Captain Chervil and Captain Campion,as well as a different rabbit,clearly not from Efrafa who claims he wants to join Efrafa,which puzzles Woundwort,until he explains all about his previous Owsla and explains he went on his own free will,then gives his name,Thlayli(which was Bigwig's Lapine name,see Lapine dictionary for details,Bigwig had made it to Efrafa!)Campion then gives Thlayli a mark so that would determine his work space,in this case,Thlayli works in the Left Hind Mark.Chervil tells Bigwig his responsibilities and shows him around Efrafa,where he meets up with Hyzenthlay,the doe that tried to escape with Holly,and even poor,poor Blackavar who has tried to escape many times,but as a result has given many scars and scratches,mostly by the rabbit Vervain.Later,Bigwig meets with Hyzenthlay and tells her about Watership Down and his plan to escape,she wishes to bring many does with her and Blackavar,Bigwig knows that this will be trouble though,and needs help from Kehaar.Kehaar on the behalf of Hazel meets Bigwig and tells him about his plan,Kehaar makes such a loud racket over the conversation that Woundwort and Campion get suspicious and start to talk with Bigwig,luckily,he covered up his tracks very carefully.The next day was stormy,which Bigwig decided was the day to execute his plan,Bigwig,Hyzenthlay,Blackavar,and all the other does of efrafa make a run for it,with General Woundwort,Campion,Avens,Vervain,Chervil,and a rabbit named Groundsel hot on their tails.When the escapees reached a bridge,Kehaar was waiting for them,attacking Woundwort,ghiving Bigwig and the others a chance to escape,finally,they met up with Hazel and everyone else,who had been waiting at a riverbend next to a boat,and narrowly escaped Woundwort,but he was certainly not giving up.
PART 4-HAZEl-RAH
Even though,Hazel and the others had escaped Woundwort,Kehaar noticing that there are bridges,tells the rabbits about them,allowing Woundwort and his Owsla to get them easily,they would have no choice but to swim.The bank wasn't very far,but the rabbits stiil had trouble swimming,luckily,Kehaar was generous enough to help them,Hazel soon notices Blackavar and begans to talk to him,Blackavar's mother wasn't an Efrafa doe,but she mated with an Efrafa rabbit,giving birth to him.While Hazel and Blackavar were talking,Kehaar,noticing that his work at Watership Down was done,went back to his home,The Pig Vater as he called it.On the way back,Hazel and Hyzenthlay begin to build a relationship,until Campion and the police come,but after talking with Hazel and Bigwig,they leave to report to Woundwort.The next day at sunset,the Efrafa rabbits begin their journey to Watership Down to kill Bigwig and his afilliates,Hazel decides to cover up all the holes to buy them some time to attack.Fiver,however,begins trembling and having a very scary vision about a dog loose in the wood,giving Hazel an idea,he leaves to Nuthanger Farm with Blackberry and Dandelion to get the dog loose,as Fiver "predicted.While they were gone,the Efrafans come and begin to attack Watership Down,Woundwort is determined to find and kill Bigwig,if it's the last thing he does.When Hazel,Dandelion and Blackberry got to the farm,Hazel had Blackberry and Dandelion wait to lure the dog to Watership Down,it was still asleep,so Hazel chewed the rope that was holding the dog and then thumped loudly,leaving Blackberry and Dandelion to bring the dog back,Hazel's job was finished,and headed back to,until pounced on by a cat,the same tabby that Hazel met when he went to Nuthanger Farm the first time.A little girl just woke up and saw what the cat was doing,and brought Hazel in,she wanted to keep him,but her father wouldn't allow it,so they took Hazel to the doctor to get healed from his injury and take him home.Meanwhile,Woundwort was looking for Bigwig,who was encased in sand,and sprung out at him,both were going at it,tooth and claw,Kehaar wasn't here anymore,so Bigwig had to fight as much as he could,but then Campion screamed that there was a dog and for evryone to run,Woundwort ran out of the warren and came face to face with the dog,and both lunged at eachother looking for a kill. Hazel had come home and everyone was happy to see him and told him about Woundwort's body wasn't found after the dog incident,and Bigwig,was very bloody,but alive,and very happy to see Hazel.Some springs later,Efrafa and Watership Down agree to co-exist in a place called Vleflain,created by a rabbit named Grounsel who is the new chief rabbit and dubs Campion captain of it.Meanwhile,new baby kittens are running around the warren,gay and healthy,one in particular,hears a hrududu(See lapine dictionary) and a man very far away,but it would make sense since it is Fiver's son,then everyone goes underground,talking about the new Fiver.
EPILOGUE
Many,many springs later,on a cold,blustery day in March,Hazel,now old and tired,hears his name being called out by none other than The Black Rabbit of Inle,ready to take him to heaven,but at the same time,El-ahrairah wants Hazel to join his Owsla.Hazel looks at his warren one last time before dieing and going on a lifelong journey with El-ahrairah forever,with Frith's word echoing;"All the world will be your enemy,prince with a thousand enemies,and whenever they catch you,they will kill you,but first,they must catch you.Digger,listener,runner,prince of the swift warning,be cunning and full of tricks,and your people will never be destroyed."Thus ending Watership Down and giving us an emotional feel,knowing Hazel can never truley die.