 It has been suggested that Watership Down contains symbolism of several religions , or that the stories of El @-@ ahrairah were meant to mimic some elements of real @-@ world religion . When asked in a 2007 BBC Radio interview about the religious symbolism in the novel , Adams stated that the story was " nothing like that at all . " Adams said that the rabbits in Watership Down did not worship , however , " they believed passionately in El @-@ ahrairah " . Adams explained that he meant the book to be , " only a made @-@ up story ... in no sense an allegory or parable or any kind of political myth . I simply wrote down a story I told to my little girls " . Instead , he explained , the " let @-@ in " religious stories of El @-@ ahrairah were meant more as legendary tales , similar to a rabbit Robin Hood , and that these stories were interspersed throughout the book as humorous interjections to the often " grim " tales of the " real story " . 
