The Hare In The Moon
The story of
“The Hare in the Moon” is a book enjoyed by the
Leverets. It is also an old Jataka Tale and
more information about the background to the Moon Hare (or Moon
Rabbit) can be found at Wikipedia. A version
of the story from Sacred Texts is
reproduced below:
Many strange things happened long
ago, and one of them was that a hare, a monkey, and a fox agreed to
live together. They talked about their plan a long time. Then the
hare said, “I promise to help the monkey and the fox.”
The monkey declared, “I promise to help the fox and the
hare.” The fox said, “I promise to help the hare and
the monkey.” They shook hands, or rather shook paws. There
was something else to which they agreed, and that was that they
would kill no living creature.
The manito was much
pleased when he heard of this plan, but he said to himself,
“I should like to make sure that what I have heard is true,
and that they are really gentle and kind to others as well as to
themselves. I will go to the forest and see how they behave toward
strangers.”
The manito appeared before the three
animals, but they thought he was a hunter. “May I come into
your lodge and rest?” he asked. “I am very
weary.”
All three came toward him and gave
him a welcome. “Come into our lodge,” they said.
“We have agreed to help one another, so we will help one
another to help you.”
“I have been hungry all
day,” said the manito, “but I should rather have such a
welcome than food.”
“But if you are hungry, you
must have food,” declared the three animals. “If there
were anything in our lodge that you would care to eat, you might
have part of it or all of it, but there is nothing here that you
would like.”
Then said the monkey, “I have a
plan. I will go out into the forest and find you some
food.”
When the monkey came back, he said,
“I found a tree with some fruit on it. I climbed it and shook
it, and here is the fruit. There was only a little of it, for fruit
was scarce.”
“Will you not eat part of it
yourself?” asked the manito.
“No,” answered the
monkey. “I had rather see you eat it, for I think you are
more hungry than I.”
The manito wished to know whether the
fox and the hare would behave as unselfishly toward him, and he
said, “My good friends, the fruit was indeed welcome, but I
am still hungry.”
Then the fox said, “I will go
out into the forest and see what I can find for
you.”
When the fox came back, he said,
“I shook the trees, but no more fruit fell. I could not climb
the trees, for my paws are not made for climbing, but I searched on
the ground, and at last I found some hominy that a traveller had
left, and I have brought you that.”
The manito had soon eaten the hominy.
He wished to know whether the hare would behave as kindly as the
others, and before long he said, “My good friends, the hominy
was indeed welcome, but I am still hungry.”
Then the hare said, “I will
gladly go out into the forest and search for food.” He was
gone a long time, but when he came back, he brought no
food.
“I am very hungry,”
said the manito.
“Stranger,” said the
hare, “if you will build a fire beside the rock, I can give
you some food.”
The manito built a fire, and the hare
said, “Now I will spring from the top of the rock upon the
fire. I have heard that men eat flesh, that is taken from the fire,
and I will give you my own.”
The hare sprang from the rock, but
the manito caught him in his hands before the flame could touch
him, and said, “Dear, unselfish little hare, the monkey and
the fox have welcomed me and searched the forest through to find me
food, but you have done more, for you have given me yourself. I
will take the gift, little hare, and I will carry you in my arms up
to the moon, so that every one on the earth may see you and hear
the tale of your kindness and unselfishness.”
The 31st March was also another Blue Moon
and an appropriate date for the placement of the cache. To locate
the cache you will need to start running with the hare to solve the
cipher:
moija
tlwia kqsus zqfxa sjptu
yhfaj rdlcb
hvahx xcrmo
xtwed cdryt
oexvh mhwcd
bqibu oxadb
uxxss eaknu
hyeue gkinu
elybk ztvau
vmxxg ledih
uioue hrrgt
uhfvv bxwxp
kflks ublef
wzwik ygprv
hvwbd uoqja
bruva dsfrf
axubl ymiem
gipla cwiys
ycnwv sptuh
uvtmk msgkt
tdlgy nswsh
ozdeu sximk
uncii
Enjoy
The March Hare
