The Frog And the Moon
On a summer evening, the moon rose into the sky. The crescent moon looked like a small boat, the azure sky like a vast ocean, and the twinkling stars like brilliant gems scattered across the sea.
In a pond lived many frogs. Some were gathered together, croaking away in a debate, while others were competing in diving contests by the shore. Frog Jumper sat on a lotus leaf, cooling off, and when he looked up at the sky, he saw the moon. He thought to himself, “What a lovely little boat! I want to bring it down and place it in our pond…”
“Boing!” Frog Jumper leaped up.
“Boing! Boing! Boing!” Frog Jumper jumped higher and higher, each jump bringing him closer to the sky.
“Boing——” Frog Jumper finally landed on the moon.
On the moon, there was an osmanthus tree, and under the tree sat a jade rabbit, using a small stone pestle to grind medicine in a small stone mortar.
With a “thump,” a green-skinned frog suddenly appeared in front of the jade rabbit, startling it.
Seeing the jade rabbit, Frog Jumper was also startled. He stared at the jade rabbit with his bulging eyes and said, “Hello! I’m Frog Jumper! Is this your boat? I thought it was an abandoned boat, so I wanted to bring it to our pond.”
The jade rabbit said, “This isn’t a boat; it’s the Moon Palace of Sister Chang’e. Sister Chang’e is a goddess, and she can turn the moon into a small boat or a large silver plate. The Moon Palace belongs to Sister Chang’e, and it belongs to the whole world. There is only one moon in the whole world, so you can’t bring it to your pond. But if you like, we can give you the moon’s reflection, and you can keep the moon’s reflection in your pond.”
Hearing the jade rabbit’s suggestion, Frog Jumper was delighted. Of course, he couldn’t keep the moon to himself, but it would be nice to have its reflection!
“Splash!” Frog Jumper jumped back into the pond, causing a huge splash!
The loud splash startled all the frogs who were debating and diving in the pond.
Rustle, rustle… The splashed water droplets fell on the grass, the lotus leaves, and the lotus flowers, waking up the golden beetles, ants, and fireflies sleeping in the grass. It also woke up the small fish sleeping under the lotus leaves and the dragonflies sleeping on the lotus flowers, and it interrupted the singing of the golden bell bugs and crickets perched on the grass blades.
The little insects asked, “What happened? Is it raining?”
The noisy frogs asked, “What happened? Did the sky fall?”
Frog Jumper stood on a lotus leaf and said, “Quiet, everyone, please be quiet. I have something important to announce…”
The frogs stopped croaking, the golden bell bugs stopped singing, and the crickets stopped strumming their strings. Everyone stretched their necks, stood on tiptoes, and watched Frog Jumper, listening intently to hear what important news he had to announce.
“Sister Chang’e and the jade rabbit have given us the moon’s reflection!” Frog Jumper announced loudly.
“The moon’s reflection? Where is it?” everyone asked. Frog Jumper pointed to the pond, “Look—over there!”
Everyone looked down at the pond: at the bottom of the clear pond, a shiny crescent moon swayed, like a bright little boat! The moon’s reflection was so beautiful and so magical that everyone watched in silence, as if they were afraid of disturbing it. The lively pond fell silent, with only the gentle evening breeze stirring the water’s surface, creating ripples that made the moonlight on the pond shimmer, like a magic trick, turning them into countless little silver fish swimming about.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
