The Little Hare and the Moon Lake (from Kalila and Dimna)

Once upon a time, beside a quiet lake in the hills, there lived a family of hares.

The lake was round and clear and still. The hares called it the Moon Lake, because on clear nights, the full moon shone down on it like a big silver plate. All around its shores, the hares had dug their cozy burrows. They nibbled clover. They hopped in the soft grass. And every evening, they sat by the water and watched the stars come out.

One of these hares was named Fairuz. She was small, with long ears and a white fluffy tail. She was not the biggest hare, or the fastest. But she was the best at thinking.

Far away, on the other side of the hills, lived a herd of elephants.

They were huge and gray and gentle, with long swinging trunks and ears like giant fans. Their leader was a big elephant named Fil. He was not a mean elephant. But he was so big that he did not always notice the little things around him.

That year, there was no rain on the elephants' side of the hills. Their river dried up. Their mud pools cracked. The elephants grew very thirsty.

"We must find water," said Fil. "Follow me."

So the elephants walked and walked. Over the hills. Through the valleys. Thump, thump, thump went their big round feet.

Then Fil lifted his trunk and sniffed. "Water!" he trumpeted. "I can smell it!"

They came over the last hill. And there was the Moon Lake, sparkling in the sun.

"Hooray!" trumpeted the elephants.

They ran down to the water. Thump! Thump! THUMP! They splashed in. They drank and drank. They sprayed water over their backs with their trunks. Whoosh! Splash!

But they did not see the little hares.

Their big feet thumped right over the burrows. Clover patches were flattened. Burrow doors were squashed shut. Soft nests were pressed into the mud. The hares had to scamper out of the way, as fast as their legs could carry them.

No one was hurt. But many homes were ruined.

That night, the hares gathered on a hill, away from the lake. They were tired and muddy and upset.

"My burrow is gone," sniffled one hare.

"So is mine," said another.

"The elephants will come back every day," said an old grandfather hare. "They will squash all our homes. We will have to leave the Moon Lake forever."

All the hares looked sad. They did not want to leave. The lake was their home.

Fairuz sat quietly, thinking. Her ears twitched. Her nose wiggled. She looked up at the sky. The moon was rising, big and round and bright.

Then Fairuz smiled.

"Wait," she said. "Let me try something."

"What can you do?" asked the old grandfather hare. "You are so small, and they are so big."

"Sometimes," said Fairuz, "you do not need to be big. You just need a good idea."

The next night was clear and calm. The full moon rose over the hills. And the Moon Lake shone like silver.

Fil the elephant came walking down to the water for a drink. Thump, thump, thump.

Fairuz hopped up onto a tall rock at the edge of the lake. She stood up as straight and tall as a little hare can.

"Excuse me!" she called. "Great elephant! Please stop!"

Fil stopped. He looked around. He looked left. He looked right. Then he looked down and saw the tiny hare on the rock.

"Who are you?" rumbled Fil.

"My name is Fairuz," said the hare politely. "And I have a message for you. From the Moon."

Fil's big ears flapped. "From the Moon?"

"Yes," said Fairuz. "The Moon looks after this lake. That is why it is called the Moon Lake. And the Moon looks after the little hares who live here too. Last night, your feet squashed our homes. And the Moon is not happy."

Fil looked up at the moon. It was shining down on him, round and bright.

"I did not know," he said slowly. "I did not see any homes."

"Then come and see," said Fairuz. "The Moon is here right now. Look in the lake."

Fil walked to the edge of the water. He looked down.

And there, in the middle of the still water, was the Moon! Round and silver and glowing, right there in the lake.

Fil's eyes went wide.

"Oh," he said softly. "Hello, Moon. I am very sorry about the homes."

He reached out his long trunk to touch the water, very gently, to say hello.

The moment his trunk touched the lake, the water rippled. And the Moon in the water wobbled. It shivered. It broke into a hundred trembling pieces of light.

"Oh no!" gasped Fil. He pulled his trunk back. "The Moon is shaking! Is it upset with me?"

"I think the Moon is telling you something," said Fairuz.

Fil held very still. Slowly, the ripples faded. The water grew calm again. And the Moon came back together, whole and round and shining.

Fil let out a long, gentle breath.

"Little hare," he said. "Please tell the Moon that I am sorry. I did not mean to squash anyone's home. I was so thirsty, and so happy to find water, that I did not look where I was walking."

Fairuz looked at the big elephant. She could see he meant it.

"I think the Moon would be happy," she said, "if you promised to be careful. You could still drink from the lake. Everyone needs water. But you could walk on the rocky path on the far side, where there are no burrows."

"I promise," said Fil. "And I will tell the whole herd."

And he did.

From that night on, the elephants walked carefully down the rocky path on the far side of the lake. Thump, thump, thump. They drank and splashed on their side of the water. And they never stepped on a single burrow again.

The hares dug new homes. Cozier than ever. Fil even helped. He used his trunk to carry soft grass for their nests.

One evening, Fairuz and Fil sat together on the shore, watching the moon rise.

"Fairuz," said Fil. "Was it really the Moon who sent you?"

Fairuz giggled. "Well," she said. "The Moon did help a little."

Fil laughed a big, rumbly elephant laugh. And up above, the Moon shone down on them both.