Richard Adams - Watership Down

Flayrah — Unusually good food, e.g. lettuce.

Frith — The sun, personified as a god by rabbits. Frithrah! = the lord Sun-used as an exclamation.

Fu Inlé — After moonrise.

Hlao — Any dimple or depression in the grass, such as that formed by a daisy plant or thistle, which can hold — moisture. The name of a rabbit.

Hlao-roo — "Little Hlao." An affectionate diminutive of the name of Hlao, one of the rabbits in the story.

Hlessi — A rabbit living above ground, without a regular hole or warren. A wandering rabbit, living in the open. — (Plural, hlessil.)

Homba — A fox. (Plural, hombil.)

Hrair — A great many; an uncountable number; any number over four. U Hrair = The Thousand (enemies).

Hrairoo — "Little Thousand." The name of Fiver in Lapine.

Hraka — Droppings, excreta.

Hrududu — A tractor, car or any motor vehicle. (Plural, hrududil.)

Hyzenthlay — Literally, «Shine-dew-fur» = Fur shining like dew. The name of a doe.

Inlé — Literally, the moon; also moonrise. But a second meaning carries the idea of darkness, fear and — death.

Lendri — A badger.

Marli — A doe. Also carries the meaning "mother."

M'saion — "We meet them."

Narn — Nice, pleasant (to eat).

Ni-Frith — Noon.

Nildro-hain — "Blackbird's Song." The name of a doe.

Owsla — The strongest rabbits in a warren, the ruling clique.

Owslafa — The Council police (a word found only in Efrafa).

Pfeffa — A cat.

Rah — A prince, leader or chief rabbit. Usually used as a suffix. E.g. Threarah = Lord Threar.

Roo — Used as a suffix to denote a diminutive. E.g. Hrairoo.

Sayn — Groundsel.

Silf — Outside, that is, not underground.

Silflay — To go above ground to feed. Literally, to feed outside. Also used as a noun.

Tharn — Stupefied, distraught, hypnotized with fear. But can also, in certain contexts, mean "looking foolish," — or again «heartbroken» or "forlorn."

Thethuthinnang — "Movement of Leaves." The name of a doe.

Thlay — Fur.

Thlayli — "Fur-head." A nickname.

Threar — A rowan tree, or mountain ash.

Vair — To excrete, pass droppings.

Yona — A hedgehog. (Plural, yonil.)

Zorn — Destroyed, murdered. Denotes a catastrophe.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following publishers, agents and other copyright holders for permission to reprint copyrighted material:

"The Witnesses," Copyright 1945 by W.H. Auden; reprinted from Collected Shorter Poems 1927–1957 , by W.H. Auden, by permission of Random House, Inc., and Faber and Faber Ltd.

The Ascent of F6 by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, Copyright 1936, 1937 and renewed 1964 by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood; reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc., and Curtis Brown, Ltd.

"The Pilgrim," "Dame Hickory," and «Napoleon» by Walter de la Mare reprinted by permission of The Literary Trustees of Walter de la Mare and The Society of Authors as their representative.

"Two Fusiliers" from Fairies and Fusiliers by Robert Graves, Copyright © 1917 by Robert Graves. All rights reserved; reprinted by permission of Collins-Knowlton-Wing, Inc.

"Who's in the Next Room?" from Collected Poems of Thomas Hardy, Copyright 1925 by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.; reprinted by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd., the Trustees of the Hardy Estate and Macmillan, London and Basingstoke.

"Hurt Hawks," Copyright 1928 and renewed 1956 by Robinson Jeffers, reprinted from The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers by permission of Random House, Inc.

"Fern Hill" from The Poems of Dylan Thomas , Copyright 1946 by New Directions Publishing Corporation, reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation, J.M. Dent amp; Sons Ltd., and the Trustees for the Copyrights of the late Dylan Thomas.

"A Woman Young and Old" from The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats , Copyright 1933 by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., renewed 1961 by Bertha Georgia Yeats; reprinted by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., M.B. Yeats and Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd.

Rabbits can count up to four. Any number above four is hrair — "a lot," or "a thousand." Thus they say U Hrair — "The Thousand"-to mean, collectively, all the enemies (or elil, as they call them) of rabbits-fox, stoat, weasel, cat, owl, man, etc. There were probably more than five rabbits in the litter when Fiver was born, but his name, Hrairoo, means "Little Thousand" — i.e., the little one of a lot or, as they say of pigs, "the runt."

Nearly all warrens have an Owsla, or group of strong or clever rabbits-second-year or older-surrounding the Chief Rabbit and his doe and exercising authority. Owslas vary. In one warren, the Owsla may be the band of a warlord: in another, it may consist largely of clever patrollers or garden-raiders. Sometimes a good storyteller may find a place; or a seer, or intuitive rabbit. In the Sandleford warren at this time, the Owsla was rather military in character (though, as will be seen later, not so military as some).

The stresses are the same as in the phrase "Never say die."

Stinking-the word for the smell of a fox.

Tractor-or any motor.

Hoi, hoi, the stinking Thousand, We meet them even when we stop to pass our droppings."

Song of the Blackbird.

Go above ground to feed.

Bigwig's word was hlessil, which I have rendered in various places in the story as wanderers, scratchers, vagabonds. A hlessi is a rabbit living in the open, without a hole. Solitary bucks and unmated rabbits who are wandering do this for quite long periods, especially in summer. Bucks do not usually dig much in any case, although they will scratch shallow shelters or make use of existing holes where these are available. Real digging is done for the most part by does preparing for litters.

Zorn means «finished» or "destroyed," in the sense of some terrible catastrophe.

The first syllable is stressed and not the second, as in the word "Majesty."

Hyzenthlay: "Shine-Dew-Fur"-fur-shining-like-dew.

Bob-stones is a traditional game of rabbits. It is played with small stones, fragments of sticks or the like. Fundamentally it is a very simple kind of gambling, on the lines of "Odds or Evens." A «cast» of stones on the ground is covered by the player's front paw. The opponent must then hazard some sort of surmise about its nature-e.g., one or two, light or dark, rough or smooth.

Thethuthinnang: "Movement of Leaves." The first and last syllables are stressed, as in the phrase "Once in a way."

Marli-a doe. Tharn-stupefied, distraught. In this particular context, the nearest translation might be "the maiden all forlorn."