One day the wildcat had caught the rabbit and was about to eat him.
"Wait!" shouted the rabbit. "I'm very small, without much meat on my bones. If you let me go, I will bring you a whole flock of turkeys. Their leader is a big tom turkey, a gobbler who would make a perfect meal for you."
The wildcat knew that a turkey would make a much better meal than a rabbit, so he agreed. The rabbit led the wildcat into the woods and then said, "You lie down here and pretend to be dead. Don't move, no matter what happens. Then, when I give the word, jump up and grab the gobbler."
With that, the rabbit ran off to find the turkeys. "Turkeys," he announced, "I have found our enemy, the wildcat, lying dead in the woods. Let's go celebrate by dancing over his body."
At first the turkeys were hesitant, but they finally agreed to go with the rabbit. They found the wildcat lying dead there, just as he had promised. The rabbit said, "I'll sing the song while you dance around him." The rabbit then started to sing, beating time with a stick, while the turkeys danced around the wildcat.
"Pick out the gobbler!" sang the rabbit. "Pick out the gobbler!"
The turkeys were dancing so hard that they did not hear the words of the song. The rabbit then stopped singing and said to the turkeys, "Now go up closer and hit him." The turkeys got closer and the rabbit began singing again, "Pick out the gobbler!"
Finally, the gobbler got close enough to the wildcat to kick him. That was when rabbit sang in his loudest voice, "PICK OUT THE GOBBLER!" At that moment, the wildcat sprang up and caught the gobbler while the other turkeys ran away as fast as they could.
