Deep in the Ural Mountains when it’s late at night, do not rustle a bush or step on a branch. If you are as quiet as a cotton ball falling on cashmere, you will witness a giant cuniculus (rabbit), a massive eruption of fur and ears.
Do not assume it is friendly - it is not. Many an onlooker has met their demise by approaching the lepus and trying to befriend it with a scrap of food or candy. Do not be lured by the soft inviting fur and eyeless face. This hare is serious business and to be fooled is perilous.
Once a season, a maiden is sacrificed to the hare. The maiden is not killed but rather put under a spell. The cuniculus puts the maiden into a trance and she stays in the trance for a season. She can still eat and do her chores, but she is deaf, mute and blind for the duration of the trance.
The people of the Ural Mountains willingly agree to the rabbit’s ritual. If they stop there will be devastating consequences. The truth is the cuniculus is taking revenge! Kosticha are sacrificial places where in ancient times some religions carried out rituals where they sacrificed animals. Many centuries later the giant lepus moved into one of these areas and the revenge rituals began. Every season the cuniculus changes color. The colors are often garish and loud to show dominance over the land.
So again I warn you. If you are travelling in the Ural Mountains, view the hare at your own risk or death may come in the form of a furry hand of revenge.
Do not assume it is friendly - it is not. Many an onlooker has met their demise by approaching the lepus and trying to befriend it with a scrap of food or candy. Do not be lured by the soft inviting fur and eyeless face. This hare is serious business and to be fooled is perilous.
Once a season, a maiden is sacrificed to the hare. The maiden is not killed but rather put under a spell. The cuniculus puts the maiden into a trance and she stays in the trance for a season. She can still eat and do her chores, but she is deaf, mute and blind for the duration of the trance.
The people of the Ural Mountains willingly agree to the rabbit’s ritual. If they stop there will be devastating consequences. The truth is the cuniculus is taking revenge! Kosticha are sacrificial places where in ancient times some religions carried out rituals where they sacrificed animals. Many centuries later the giant lepus moved into one of these areas and the revenge rituals began. Every season the cuniculus changes color. The colors are often garish and loud to show dominance over the land.
So again I warn you. If you are travelling in the Ural Mountains, view the hare at your own risk or death may come in the form of a furry hand of revenge.
