Through the ages people have looked up at the moon and imagined what they see there. There are shadows and strange shapes and these have inspired many a tale. To some it is a face, to some a man, to some a rabbit or a hare. For some reason many tales are told that link rabbits and hares to the moon. Different cultures have different stories about the moon.

Legends from Europe say that there is an old an in the moon, bent over and bowed down by the weight of the bundle of sticks on his back...he is carrying a forked stick and a lantern, and he also has a dog. Have you ever noticed how many tales there are about how he got on the moon in the first place?

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In Germany they tell a tale of the old man in the moon:

Long ago an old man went out into the woods to cut firewood on a Sunday morning (Sunday was a holy day - a day of rest). He cut a large branch and managed to lift it up to his shoulder. Slowly and with great difficulty he made his way home to start a nice warm fire.

On the way he met a handsome young man, all dressed up in his best suit, on his way to church. The young man looked at him with surprise and a little disdain. "Good morning, old man. Why are you cutting firewood on a Sunday? Don't you know that Sunday is holy ad all good Christians should be resting?"

The old man replied: "Sunday on earth, or Monday in heaven, it's all the same to me! Life goes on, and my home and family are cold."

"Well then, if you have no respect for Sunday, then may you bear your bundle forever, and as you value not Sunday on earth, yours shall be a perpetual moon day in heaven; and you shall stand for eternity in the moon, a warning to all Sabbath-breakers," the stranger said and banished him to the moon. Ever since that day the old man has been carrying his burden of sticks up in the moon for all men to see and learn by his mistake.

In Malaysia, the man in the moon is an old hunchback sitting beneath an inverted banyan tree. He is plaiting bark into a fishing line to catch everything on earth. They also add their own details. There is also a rat which gnaws through the fishing line and a cat which chases the rat. So long as this equilibrium continues, the world is safe, but if the hunchback ever completes his fishing line, the world will end.

In China, the man in the moon is called Wu Kang (Gekkawo in Japan), the god of love and marriage, who unites lovers by tying their feet together with invisible cords. Wu Kang also cuts branches from the cassia tree of immortality, which grows in the moon. Tales are told of the man in the moon - tales like this one:

Rabbit and the man in the moon

Once upon a time there was a rabbit who was the most wonderful hunter. He lived deep in the forest with his mother and set traps early in the evening. Every morning his traps were full, and he was prosperous.

Then there came a day when he found his traps empty! Someone had been there before him and robbed his traps which made the hare very angry and he became determined to catch the robber. He started to visit his traps earlier and earlier to try and catch the thief - with no luck. He then got a brainwave!

He decided to set a trap for the trap-robber. He made a snare so light and so cunning that he was quite sure that he would catch the culprit. He set the snare and went to sleep behind one of the trees with the one end of the snare in his hand. There was no escape! Suddenly the moon went dark and there was a flash of brilliant light by his snare. Aha! It must be the trap-robber! The rabbit pulled on the snare and sure enough - there was an angry shout and something was caught, but when the rabbit tried to see what it was, the brilliant light blinded his eyes. He went down to the stream to bathe them but still they stung and he couldn't see the robber. He could only hear a gruff angry voice threatening all sorts of ill fate if he was not released immediately.

The rabbit tried to put out the terrifying light. He threw balls of snow at it - but they just sizzled and melted before they even reached the light. Then he threw handfuls of clay from the river bank...now that made his captive really angry!

By this stage he was quite terrified and his lip started quivering without control. He still couldn't see his captive. His eyes were quite red and watered all the time. Finally he asked in a timid voice: "But who are you?"

The gruff, angry voice replied, "I am the man in the moon and if I don't get back before the sun comes up, you and all your relatives will be cursed for good! Release me at once!"

The rabbit was really frightened! He had looked up at the moon often and had thought he saw a man in it. That man must be very powerful! he thought. Still the rabbit was cunning, and he decided to bargain with the man in the moon. "I will release you, if you promise never to come down to earth again, and never to steal from my traps!"

Reluctantly the an i the moon agreed and the rabbit loosened the snare. There was a swoosh and a great gust of wind as the man in the moon disappeared into the sky, leaving a blazing trail of light behind him.

To this day rabbits have red eyes and blink when they look into the light, and their lips still quiver. And to this day, if you look carefully at the man in the moon, you can see the spots of clay on his face from the clay balls the rabbit threw at him.

Every now and then, the man in the moon disappears to go and try and wash off these clay marks - and the moon becomes very small - a mere sliver in the sky. But when he returns and the moon is full again, you can see that the rabbit has left his mark on both the man and the moon for good.

Beliefs about the moon - Part 1

Rabbit and the man in the moon

Next part to follow...