The Hare in the Moon — Chand par Khargosh ki kahani, for kids in Hindi

The story

Kya tumne kabhi chand par nanhe khargosh ki tasveer dekhi hai

Here is a story for the child who feels that what they have to give is too small to matter. Next full moon, look closely — there is a hare sitting in the moon, and this is how it got there. In a forest beside a sweet-water river lives a small white khargosh with very long ears. His best friends are a monkey and an elephant, and tomorrow night is purnima, the full moon. The forest has one lovely rule for that night: if a hungry guest arrives, you must share your food.

Naani says

और उस जंगल की एक प्यारी रीत थी: पूर्णिमा की रात अगर कोई भूखा मेहमान आ जाए, तो उसे अपना खाना ज़रूर खिलाओ।

And that forest had a lovely custom: if a hungry guest arrives on the full-moon night, you must share your food.

In the morning the friends get ready. The monkey collects ripe mangoes; the elephant brings sweet sugarcane. And the hare? All he has is green grass — and only rabbits eat grass. Naani asks your child here: does a guest ever eat grass, haan ya na? The hare's ears droop. But he looks up at the rising moon and makes up his mind: I will give something too. What, he has no idea.

Naani says

और तब उसने पक्के मन से कहा — मैं भी कुछ ज़रूर दूँगा!

And then he said, with a firm heart — I will give something too!

Purnima comes. The three sit under the big tree with their food and a small fire, and then — footsteps on dry leaves. Out of the trees comes an old baba with a long white beard and a tired face. Children, he says, I have come far and I am hungry. The monkey brings his mangoes at once; the elephant lays down his sugarcane. The baba smiles a little and turns to the hare. And you, little one?

Naani says

खरगोश के पास… बस घास थी। उसका छोटा सा दिल धक-धक करने लगा।

The hare had… only grass. His small heart began to thump.

The hare looks at his grass, then at the guest, and stands up straight. Baba, you cannot eat my grass, but I have one more thing — myself. Tonight I will be your meal. Before his friends can move, he leaps towards the fire. Here Naani slows down and tells your child not to worry: the moment his small paws reach the flames, the fire turns cold — cold as flowers wet with dew. Not a single hair is singed.

Naani says

पर मेरे पास एक चीज़ और है — मैं खुद। आज मैं ही आपका खाना बनूँगा।

But I have one more thing — myself. Tonight I will be your meal.

The baba lifts the hare in his palms, and his face begins to shine like moonlight. I am the old keeper of the moon, he says. I came to find the biggest heart in the forest, and I was never hungry at all. Then he draws on the full moon with a moonlit finger until a small hare appears there. Now whoever looks at the moon will remember you, he says, and melts away into the light. The hare lies down on his bed of grass — now the most precious thing in the world — while the hare in the moon looks down as if to say: sleep now, little one. I am right here.

The value this story teaches

Small children often feel they have nothing worth giving: their drawings are scribbles, their coins are few, their toys are small. Generosity, for them, has to be separated from price early, or it becomes something only grown-ups do.

The hare has only grass, and he knows a guest will not eat grass. The monkey's mangoes and the elephant's sugarcane look so much better. But when the tired old baba turns to him, the hare offers the only thing he has — himself — and the fire turns cold, because the baba was never hungry; he came looking for the biggest heart. The hare's likeness goes onto the moon so that nobody forgets. Your child learns that the smallest giver can have the biggest heart, and gets a moon to check it by.