Rabbit Moon

Usagi expected to burn. An old rabbit such as himself didn’t have long to live, and the beggar man didn’t have long either if he was only to eat the fruits the monkey gathered or the fish offered by the otter. Usagi knew what he was doing when he threw himself into Beggar’s fire. Everyone knew rabbits possessed a sea of luck in each foot and Beggar would need luck as well as sustenance to revive his blessedly weary bones.

Usagi expected to burn, but he did not. Beggar was astonished at the rabbit’s luck that spared the creature even death. Now it is said here that Beggar was actually a Ruler of Heaven and that he drew a likeness to old Usagi on Tsuki, the brightest and biggest orb in the night sky, but sadly that didn’t occur. Nothing so grand could ever happen to old Usagi.

Monkey and Otter returned and heard of Usagi’s grandeur, his attempt to brave flames, his resolve to offer his life and luck for the beggar. Beggar was thankful, but he was also greedy. Hearing the other animals boast Usagi’s courage and humility, Beggar got an idea, a dirty one that he would later regret but could never take back.

Beggar couldn’t doodle on Tsuki, no, for his arms couldn’t stretch that far, but he could throw. Beggar told Usagi about all of the ingredients stored on Tsuki, enough to make an infinite amount of mochi, sweet pounded rice that quenched hunger and revitalized spirit.

“You can make some for yourself too, Usagi-san,” Beggar assured him. “With your luck you can pound enough to bring youth back into your old tired paws. With your luck you can come back to Earth with energy enough to set the world at a faster pace by running it, run backwards and set back the clock for everyone.”

Usagi agreed that it would be great to give everyone youth even if he may never gain his own. He resolved to pound mochi on Tsuki and to send it down as snow until Beggar and his animal friends had enough life in them to stay young forever. So Beggar threw Usagi to Tsuki and the pounding began.

Years and years passed with Usagi doing as promised, making mochi and sending it snowing down. Beggar, along with Monkey and Otter and other animals on Earth, grew more youthful with each passing day. Usagi grew older. He wouldn’t eat the mochi because he felt others needed it more than him. And, although he never let on that he knew, Beggar hadn’t fooled him in sending him to Tsuki.

It was later discovered that mochi from Tsuki didn’t give immortality, but a longer, more fulfilling life. Usagi still works today, in Tsuki, what some now call Moon or Luna. He still works hard and long with his tired paws, his pace slower but no less diligent. And when he is able, he sends down the snow. You may notice that snow is no longer sweet and sticky mochi, but powdery ice. You see, Usagi has run out of mochi ingredients since they weren’t as everlasting as Beggar claimed. His sightless eyes can’t see that he is only pounding frozen water to a light flurry. And that is alright because Usagi still has luck and the snow still channels it. The snow touches all creatures with life as the mochi did. Usagi still has purpose, and so he keeps pounding.