The Jade Rabbit in the Moon
Long, long ago, deep in a quiet forest, a rabbit, a fox, and a monkey lived together as the dearest of friends.
The three of them went everywhere side by side, chattering happily, and whenever something good came their way, they always shared it with one another.
One cold evening, a weary old man sank down by the forest path. “Oh dear,” he sighed, “I am so very hungry. Could you spare me a little something to eat?”
The three kind friends scattered at once, each hurrying off to find something they could bring to the old man.
The monkey scrambled up a tall tree and gathered an armful of ripe, sweet fruit. The fox darted to the stream and carried back a shimmering fish.
But the rabbit, no matter how far he hopped across the open fields, could find nothing at all to offer. The little rabbit, you see, had nothing of his own to give.
He came back with his ears drooping low, yet he could not bear to return with empty paws. His small chest went thump, thump, thumping inside.
So the rabbit thought very hard, then crept up close to the old man and said, “Grandfather, I have nothing to bring you… but my whole heart, I would give to you.”
And then, just for the old man, he gathered dry grass and little twigs, hopping this way and that on his tiny feet, and carefully made a warm and cozy resting place.
The rabbit’s little heart was so very kind that the whole cold forest seemed to glow with light.
Now, that old man was truly someone who had come down from the heavens. All along he had been quietly watching the tender hearts of the three friends.
With a gentle smile, the old man cupped the rabbit in both his hands and lifted him softly. “Your heart is wonderfully kind,” he said. “I wish this warmth could shine over the whole wide world.”
And so he placed the little rabbit ever so gently upon the round and glowing moon.
Perhaps that is why, when the moon rises bright in the night sky, it looks as though a little rabbit is living inside it. A sweet and gentle jade rabbit, who gave away all he had, with nothing held back at all.
Of all of them, the little rabbit had the very least to give. But his heart, my love, was the most generous of all. He was ready to share even the tiny things he had.
I think the heavens lifted that rabbit up to the moon so his gentle heart could become a light, shining over the whole world night after night. A warm heart reaches that far, you know, all the way across the sky.
When you look up at the moon someday, little one, I hope you remember this. Even the smallest hands, when they are full of sharing, can grow bright enough to light up a whole night. Daddy hopes your heart stays warm like that, always.