In a little cottage, painted bright yellow, lived a kind woman and her daughter, Lily. Lily loved to tend her garden, especially the crunchy cabbages.

One sunny afternoon, while Lily was watering her flowers, a fluffy brown rabbit hopped right up to her window. "Hello, pretty girl!" he twitched his nose. "Will you come with me to my little house in the woods? We can have a party!"

Lily giggled. "Oh, no, thank you, Mr. Rabbit," she said. "I must help my mother."

But the next day, the rabbit came again. And the day after that! Each time he asked, "Pretty girl, come to my house! We'll have cakes and games!"

Lily told her mother about the persistent rabbit. "Hmm," said her mother, "he seems very keen. Perhaps you should go see his house. But be clever! Take these big cabbage leaves and drop them one by one as you go. That way, you can always find your way back home."

So, Lily, with a basket full of crisp cabbage leaves, agreed to go with the rabbit. Deeper and deeper into the woods they hopped. With each few steps, Lily quietly dropped a green cabbage leaf onto the path.

Finally, they reached a little hole under a big oak tree. "This is it!" said the rabbit proudly. Lily peeked inside. It wasn't a dusty burrow at all! It was a surprisingly cozy room, all lit up with firefly lanterns. And the rabbit? He stood up tall, wearing a smart little blue jacket and tiny polished boots! "Welcome to my home!" he said with a bow.

Soon, other rabbits arrived, all dressed in their finest clothes. They set up a long table with yummy carrots, sweet clover, and berry tarts. "This is our wedding feast!" announced the rabbit in the blue jacket.

Lily smiled politely, but inside, she felt a little bit worried. This was all happening very fast, and she missed her mother and her own sunny garden. She didn't really want to marry a rabbit, even a well-dressed one!

After the feast, the rabbit said, "Now, my dear, it's time for bed." He showed her to a soft, mossy bed in a quiet corner.

Lily had a clever idea! When the rabbit wasn't looking, she gathered some straw from a nearby basket. She quickly shaped it into a figure about her size, dressed it in her spare shawl and bonnet, and carefully tucked it into the mossy bed. It looked just like her, fast asleep!

Then, tiptoe, tiptoe, Lily slipped out of the rabbit's house. She looked around for her green cabbage leaves. There was one! And another! She followed the trail of leaves all the way back through the woods, right to her own yellow cottage.

Back in the burrow, the rabbit in the blue jacket peeked at the bed. "Are you asleep, my dear?" he whispered. No answer. "Wake up!" he said, a little louder. Still no answer.

He gently poked the figure in the bed. It didn't move. He poked it a bit harder. *Thump!* The straw figure flopped over, and the bonnet fell off. The rabbit stared. "Straw! I've been tricked!" he cried, hopping up and down in a huff, his tiny boots stamping the floor.

Lily, meanwhile, was so happy to be home. She gave her mother a big hug and told her all about her adventure. And from that day on, whenever she saw a rabbit in her garden, she just smiled and offered it a crunchy cabbage leaf – from a safe distance, of course!

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