Hello, everyone. Welcome to “Korean Folktales.” This Monday corner takes you to the world of interesting Korean folk stories. I’m Jinny Na.

This week, Koreans will celebrate the full moon harvest festival called Chuseok, which is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. The moon on this day, which is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, is full and bright. The full moon always reminds Koreans of a particular animal, namely, the rabbit. In some western culture, the full moon is believed to contain the face of a man. But here, Koreans usually visualize a rabbit pounding rice in a mortar under a laurel tree on the moon. Today, I’ll talk about an interesting tale associated with the rabbit on the moon.

A long time ago, there lived a rabbit, a fox and a monkey in a small mountain village. The three animals decided to devote themselves to Buddhism and underwent spiritual training for years. One day, a god who protects Buddhism wanted to test their religious faith and told them to bring him something to eat. Before long, the fox caught fish and offered it to the god, while the monkey returned with some acorns. But the rabbit brought just a few tree branches. He created a fire on the branches and jumped in, saying “God, I’d like to offer my own self. Please eat me after I am cooked.” The god was impressed by the rabbit’s dedication and sent the animal to the moon as a guardian. The rabbit has lived up there ever since, pounding rice in a large mortar beneath a laurel tree. What looks like smoke surrounding the rabbit on the moon symbolizes the fire he had lit to burn himself.

The image of the rabbit on the moon and the laurel tree is engrained in Korean culture that it even appears in one of Koreans’ favorite children’s songs titled “Half Moon.” The beautiful lyrics of the first verse are translated as follows.

“On the Milky Way in the blue sky,
Glides a little white boat
With a laurel tree and a rabbit”

The verse is so famous that some Koreans mistakenly believe that it is the title of the song.

The rabbit on the moon is also known as the “jade rabbit,” which is common in the legend of not only Korea but also China, Japan and other Asian countries. In the Chinese tale, the rabbit is busy pounding the elixir of life in a mortar for the goddess of the moon. In Korea, on the other hand, the rabbit is pounding rice into flour in a mortar to make heavenly rice cake.

In Korea, the rabbit is generally known as a symbol of fertility. It comes as no surprise that Koreans wish for a bountiful and happy life, while beholding the large full moon and picturing a rabbit there.

That’s it for today’s “Korean Folktales.” (Let’s end the program with the children’s song “Half Moon”) Thank you for listening. I’m Jinny Na, saying goodbye.