On the Real Watership Down
O Frith on the Hills!
‘Now all this time, El-ahrairah was dancing and mating and boasting that he was going to Frith’s meeting to receive a great gift. And at last he set out for the meeting-place. But as he was going there, he stopped to rest on a soft, sandy hillside. And while he was resting, over the hill came flying the dark Swift, screaming as he went,” News! News! News!” For you know, this is what he has said ever since that day. So El-ahrairah called up to him and said, “What news?”
“Why,” said the Swift, “I would not be you, El-ahrairah. For Frith has given the fox and the weasel cunning hearts and sharp teeth and to the cat he has given silent feet and eyes that can see in the dark and they are gone away from Frith’s place to kill and devour all that belongs to El-ahrairah.” And he dashed on over the hills. And at that moment El-ahrairah heard the voice of Frith calling, “Where is El-ahrairah? For all the others have taken their gifts and gone and I have come to look for him.”
Chapter Six—The Blessing of El-ahrairah
Back to the Great Arch
Of all the man-made features within Watership Down, I am always most drawn to the Great Arch, the railway underbridge west of Overton and south of Efrafa. My recollections of it stretch back 47 years to the time I first saw the film at the cinema. I was fascinated by the arch’s red bricks and the train tracks it supported. That was enough for me, though I liked it that the bad rabbit got jumped by the bird here as well.