53: Epilogue

Scripted by John Ruths and Newell Fisher.

Adams speaks to us directly as readers in the opening sentence.  It has a similar effect as when an actor breaks the 'fourth wall' and speaks directly to the camera.

"The wise Mr. Lockley" is referenced and we learn that wild rabbits don't live very long.  Hazel did as it turns out.  We don't even get to know how long he lived and the narrative is better for it. Might we venture a guess that the meaning of a "tidy few" here could be around five years? The ambiguity certainly implies 'hrair', or any number above 4.

WD prospered and so did the warren that he envisioned that Groundsel started out leading.  He was the "first Chief Rabbit" and this implies that he is no more.

We then hear about Woundwort.  He's never seen again and even high (and low) flying Kehaar never sees him, and doesn't want to anyway! This is where we hear the last quote from Kehaar in the book . It is good to know he came back.

It is overwhelmingly likely that the farm dog killed Woundwort.  However, because of his legendary status in Efrafa, why should a former Efrafan such as Groundsel NOT think that he's still out there?  In WD, he becomes a bogeyman of sorts.

We know that, as a warren, Watership Down did quite well.

We don't know how long Fiver lived, or Bigwig, or really anyone else.  If Hazel had a mate at this point, she was not in the burrow so I'd guess this probably means that he lived alone.  That probably means that Hyzenthlay has also left the world of the living some time before this.

We're now with Hazel during a cool and windy March morning when a rabbit comes to see him.  Hazel had been dreaming about the smell of rain and elder bloom.  Well, it is springtime after all but rain does represent cleansing and renewal.  Elder bloom can be medicinal but that may be a stretch here.

Hazel wakes to find a rabbit lying quietly beside him, who seems to have shown himself in.  The on-duty sentry should really have notified Hazel, however, he does not really mind.

Adams is telling us some things here.  The Chief Rabbit of WD has a sentry just like the Threarah did at Sandleford and Hazel still acts with the kind of humility that endeared all of us to him many chapters ago.

Hazel does another humble thing by initiating the conversation.  In the limited light of Hazel's burrow, we learn that there is a slight silver light coming from this rabbit's ears. Hazel, realising instantly the significance,  wisely addresses this rabbit as "lord" and knows that it is El-ahrairah. El-ahrairah coming to get you in person must be a rare honour.

They pass by the sentry who does not see Hazel's visitor.

As they get above ground, other members of the warren are out at morning silflay.

In one of the most moving moments in the book, Hazel realises that he'll no longer be needing his body so he simply leaves it behind.  Hazel was clearly dying but death comes to him in an easy way. If this is the Black Rabbit, it is his gentler face.

Departing his body, Hazel's soul feels powerful and an energy flows from him that even passes into the rabbits that are out feeding.  El-ahrairah tell him not to worry about the others and that they'll be fine, like thousands like them.  He invites Hazel to come with him, so he can show him what he means.

The chapter, and book, closes with Hazel and El-ahrairah running away from the warren on WD through the woods.  Primroses are beginning to bloom and this contrasts with the primroses that were ending at the very beginning of the book.  Adams neatly used primroses as bookends.  "The primroses were over" at the beginning marks the season at that point, but the fact that they were "over" is not an encouraging mataphor, as the Sandleford warren soon will be as well. This ending, where primroses are blooming, is a positive and upbeat contrast to Hazel's death.

And so the 1972 Novel, Watership Down, ends.