In a quiet mountain village wedged between a babbling brook
and an evergreen forest, there lived four animal friends. This group consisted
of a selfish Hare and a monkey, a jackal and an otter that tried their very best
to keep him in good moral standing. As they often hunted individually for food
to eat later in the evening all together. One day, the monkey, jackal, and
otter decided that if any beggar w as in need of food, they should all be
willing to feed them from their personal food source. The Hare did not like
this idea, and when he went hunting, he gathered as much food as possible (grass,
oil, rice, and fish) and hid them within his den. When the others came back
with their food, which consisted of fresh fish, a meaty lizard, and sweet mango,
they piled what they gathered at the base of the mountain and waited for those
in need to come by. When this happened, the Hare was appalled. “How can you so
freely offer the food that you worked tirelessly to gather?” the Hare asked. To
this the three animals replied, “Why should we keep to ourselves what could so
greatly benefit someone else?” It was then that Sakka, the King of the Gods, appeared
in the evergreen forest disguised as a Braham. The group of animals did not see
him, so as he approached the base of the mountain, they became aware of his presence.
The King stopped in front of the pile of food and dropped to his knees. “Please
give me something to eat. I have been walking all day and cannot perform my priestly
duties until I fuel my body” he pleaded. The monkey, jackal and otter all
willingly offered up the food that they had gathered and said, “Eat your fill so
that you will be able to perform your duties.” The King then looked to the Hare
to see if he too was willing, as he had heard he was quite selfish. The Hare
refused and said “If you have walked so long, how is it that you have acquired
no food? There are many places to hunt within our village.” This greed outraged
the King and he immediately revealed himself to the animals. “I begged of you
as a test of your character. Three of you have passed, and one of you will meet
retribution on this very day.” When he said this, he grabbed the Hare and threw
him to space, where he landed on the moon. With this, the King said “Let this be
a reminder to all that greed is a terrible and selfish act. From now on, those
who look to the moon will see the face of a selfish being, and will always be
reminded to give freely, so as to not end up like the Hare in the moon.”
Author's note: Before I read this story, I assumed that it would go something like this, and that the Hare's likeness on the moon was a form of punishment. I also wanted to oppose the idea of Buddha as the Hare by making him selfish, while his friends were the ones who were selfless and wise.
Bibliography. "The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die" Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock (1920). Web source
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| A picture of the moon, Wikimedia |
I really liked your story, Emily! I also created my story from "The Hare that was not Afraid to Die" and I didn't even think about twisting the plot and letting the Hare in the moon represent the Hare's punishment for selfish deeds. I think it's interesting how we can all create such different stories from the same original post. How clever!! I also liked how you included dialogue in your story!
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed your story. I chose the same story to retell, but instead of reversing the plot, I only changed the characters and setting. What a brave and interesting move. I really liked it. A lot of mythology is praising good behavior, rather than punishing the bad. I wonder if the sacrifice on the part of the "selfless" could have been greater or posed from risk to themselves? What if, as in the original story, the "selfless sacrificers" were prey animals and the "beggar" a hunter?
I am probably overthinking it, though. Great story with a fun twist.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI thought your story was fantastic. I really liked that you used the hare in the moon as a form of punishment, because in my story I used it as reward. It was impressive that you were able to write this story in a way that helped me visualize it so simply.
I did have to ask, why did the Sakka randomly decide to visit the animals? Had he seen their behavior and wanted to find out if the hare was really as selfish as he was? I am just a little bit confused what prompted him to come down in the disguise.
What if the Sakka had been going on a journey to find evil in the land and weed it out? And maybe he could ask the animals to do several tasks to see truly how greedy the hare was. I think it would be cool too to hear the experiences of the hare since being put in the moon, and what the rabbit might say to greedy people.
AWESOME story!