The Rabbit in the Moon
Once upon a time, deep in a green forest, there lived a little rabbit. Though the rabbit was small in size, its heart was bigger and warmer than anyone’s. It lived happily and gently among all the friends of the forest.
There was one thought the rabbit always carried close to its heart. “If ever I meet someone who is hungry, I will surely share whatever I have.” That was how warm and kind the little rabbit’s heart was.
One evening, beneath the full moon, a weary traveler came wandering into the forest. He looked as though he had walked a very long road, and he seemed terribly hungry. One by one, the friends of the forest came forward to help him.
The monkey climbed high into the trees and gathered the ripest, sweetest fruit. The otter swam down to the river and brought back fresh things to eat. Each friend laid before the traveler everything they had carefully gathered.
The rabbit wanted to give something too. But the only thing the rabbit had was the grass of the open field. “This would be so hard for a person to eat…” And little by little, the rabbit’s heart began to feel small.
Even so, the rabbit did not give up. It gathered a whole armful of soft grass and set it down quietly before the traveler. “It is not much at all, but it is everything I have.” And the rabbit’s eyes shone with the truest, gentlest heart.
The rabbit held nothing back, not even a little. Its only sorrow was that it had nothing more to give. “I wish I could give you my whole heart as well.” And the rabbit tucked its little paws neatly together.
Watching all of this, the traveler smiled softly to himself. For he was no ordinary traveler at all, but a kind and gentle one who had come down from the heavens. He had come to see the tenderness in the hearts of the forest friends.
The traveler was deeply moved by the rabbit’s small and loving heart. “Your body may be little, but your heart is the largest in all this forest.” And ever so carefully, so as not to hurt the rabbit, he gathered it up warmly in both his hands.
“A heart this lovely should be seen by everyone, again and again, forever.” The traveler spoke these gentle words. Then he lifted the rabbit ever so softly and set it gently upon the bright, round full moon.
From that day on, a little rabbit came to live inside the round moon. There it stayed, looking as though it were pounding rice, as though it were sharing something kind with the world. And the friends of the forest looked up at the moon and smiled.
Even now, when the full moon rises bright in the sky, you can see the rabbit inside it. It is there to remind us of that warm heart, the smallest one that was the most generous of all. And tonight, just as always, the moonlight spills softly and warmly over the whole wide world.
The other little friends offered fruit and good things to eat, but the rabbit had only a handful of grass. And still, the rabbit gave that small thing with its whole heart. What moved the traveler was not the grass at all, but the rabbit's pure and gentle heart.
Someday, little one, you may have a day when your heart feels small, when you think, "But I have so little to give." If that day comes, please remember this. Sharing is never about how much or how little. It is only about whether your heart goes with the gift. Even a small thing, offered with love, shines as bright as the moon.
Daddy hopes you will grow into someone with a generous heart, just like the rabbit in the moon. And when you shine your light to warm another, Daddy will look at you the way we look up at the full moon, glowing with pride.