Among the hundreds of southeastern myths of the Creek tribe of Indians is one entitled "Man and Rabbit." Here is how it goes:

Rabbit ate some vegetables from a garden, which made the farmer very mad. He started watching the field and soon saw Rabbit follow along the rows, eating peas. The farmer was very angry, and thought, "I will kill him."

When Rabbit saw the man coming he kneeled down beside a big tree, leaning himself against it. The man came up and said, "I am going to kill you, Rabbit, for you have been eating out of my garden." Rabbit answered, "You can kill me, but if you do, you will die also. This tree holds up the earth. With my body, I brace the tree in place. If the tree falls, they say the earth, the sky, and everything will be wiped out and disappear. If you kill me, the earth and the sky together, and all things, will pass away."

The man looked up and saw how the branches of the tree appeared to touch the sky. The sky beyond the tree seemed low to him, as if it were indeed about to fall. When he saw that, the man ran away, leaving Rabbit beside the tree.