THE RABBIT AND THE MOON

Once upon a time, when the Buddha was caught in the life cycle of birth and death and in one birth, he was born as a rabbit.

Every full moon day, the rabbit always observed the precepts in order to devote his life to the holy metaphysics with the intention to preserve and deeply concentrate on the dharma leading to the Buddha hood.

One full moon day, the Indra knew about this and he disguised himself as an old Brahman and begged for his flesh as food. The rabbit agreed to devote his life for the old Brahman. But the old Brahman said "I have practiced the precepts for a long time and I have never killed any animal".

Then the rabbit told the old Brahman to light fire in order for him to leap into the flames to death. But before jumping into the fire, he wished: "May my head locate in the center of the moon".

After that, the rabbit jumped into the fire, so that the old Brahman could have his flash as his food as he wished.

Under the power of the Buddha, the shape of the rabbit has appeared in the center of the moon as we see nowadays.

Afterward, in order to dedicate to the birth of the rabbit, we celebrate the "Auk Ambok Sampeah Preah Khe ceremony". This ceremony is to salute the head of the rabbit .The people choose the food that is suitable for the rabbit such as bananas, pounded rice, potatoes, coconuts and taro for traditional dedications ever since.

Thus the people celebrate the Auk Ambok and Sampeah Preah Khe ceremony on full moon day of November because it is the end of rainy season and it is the time that is rich in bananas, pounded rice, sugarcane, taro and potatoes etc...

The end

"God helps those who help themselves"

DISTURBING DOG

There lived a rabbit in a hutch in a garden. It didn't like a dog as it made unpleasant noisy barks all the time. The rabbit was badly tired of the dog. Hence, a mouse who is the domestic rabbit's friend tried to find a solution for him. The mouse said to the rabbit, 'I'll let you go of the coop.'

The mouse opened the hutch, and the rabbit ran out of it very fast through the garden gateway. 'Please, go toward the rice field where you'll find many wild rabbits,' the mouse advised. 'They can help you/ he added.

The wild rabbits said to the domestic rabbit, 'Come on, Friend! Come in here and enjoy the meal with us.' In the hole, the rabbit said of the bothersome dog to them. 'I've got an idea to discourage the dog from barking again,' one of the wild rabbits uttered.

After the meal, they leap out of the hole and walked ahead angrily. On their way, they came across a beef bone. 'It may be useful for us,' said the mouse.

The wild rabbits hid the bone in a bush where the dog could see it. Then they left there gleefully. The rabbit came back to the garden, too. The mouse exclaimed happily, 'Hurrah, the dog found the bone.' The dog was not aware that the rabbit had returned to the hutch; he was busy gnawing on the bone.

'Now, we have no more worry about it; I can now sleep peacefully, at last with no more nuisance said the mouse. 'Ah, what a comfortable life it is!' shouted the rabbit.

- The END -

Harassment does not make peace.

A RABBIT STUCK HIS RUMP ON A LARGE TREE STUMP

Once, a rabbit was searching for food. He found a stump of a large tree remaining from a recent cut with resin. The rabbit jumped onto the stump and sat on it. He was stuck with his rump and legs on the stump, unable to move.

In the meantime, a little elephant was walking to the pond nearby, where he used to go every day, to drink water. The rabbit was smart and said, to frighten the little elephant, "Little elephant, don’t drink my water. Indra asked me to protect this water."

The little elephant got scared and dared not drink the water. He returned and told his mother elephant, "Mom, 1 went to drink the water in that pond. I saw a creature sitting on a tree stump. He chased me away, not allowing me to drink the water. He said he was the servant of Indra. I am so thirsty, mom!"

Hearing the little elephant say that, the mother elephant got enraged and then brought the little elephant back to the pond. She saw the rabbit sitting on the tree stump and threatened him, "Little bad rabbit sitting on the stump, where are you from? What power do you have that you ban my little one from drinking the water here? I will step on and squeeze your head now." The rabbit responded, "Big bitch, how dare you scold me. The lndra asked me to guard this water pond. That's why I dared ban him."

The elephant got mad when the rabbit swore at her and ran to pull the rabbit out of the tree stump, attempting to throw the rabbit down to kill him. The rabbit was so frightened and cried out, "Bitch, if you want to kill me, doesn’t throw me down. I will not die. Throw me up and I will die." The elephant was dumb; hearing the rabbit say that, she threw the rabbit up high. The rabbit ran fast into the jungle once he reached the ground.

- The END -

RABBIT AND BEAR

A mother bear was carrying a bag of grass marking her way out of the forest when a horse walked up her and asked: “Hello, sister bear! Where are you going?” “Hello, sister horse! I am looking for someone to look after my children, when I am away from home looking for food.” “What can you offer?” “I have a bag of grass on my back.” “Give it to me, and I will look after your children.” “Can you sing a song to comfort them?” “Yes, I can. Please listen to me. Hes! Hes! Hes!” “Oh! I am sorry: your song is awful. After that the mother bear continued on the way.

Then she met a cow and the cow asked: Hello, sister bear! Where are you going? Hello, sister cow! I am looking for someone to look after my children. What can you offer? The bag of grass on my back. Give it to me, and I will look after your children. Can you sing a song to comfort them? Yes, I can. It is well-known that I sing beautifully. Please listen to me! emmor... ! emmor..! emmor..! That's enough! That's enough! The bear put her fingers in her ears and continued her journey.

The mother bear walked a little further, then she met a rabbit and the rabbit asked: Hello, sister bear! Where are you going? Hello, sister rabbit! I am looking for someone to look after my children. What can you offer? The bag of grass on my back. Give it to me, and I promise to look after your children. Can you look after my children?

Yes, I can. That is ... When you are away, I will console your children, [saying] "please be quiet, kids! Your mom has gone out to find food for you all, and she will be back soon. Don't argue with each other. Please get along well and be united with each other. The one who can do the best will be rewarded with the biggest honey cake. When your mom comes back and sees that you are clever, she will hold, kiss and admire you, saying: My lovely children! You are really clever ...!" After listening to the rabbit, the mother bear happily admired [saying] loudly:

- Such a clever person like you is what I am looking for! The mother b~ took the rabbit home and let the rabbit look after her three children. Then, she went out to find the food feeling confident.

While staying with the bear kids, rabbit said: Let’s go to play outside, kids, I will teach you all how to jump like me. The rabbit led the bear kids to play near the edge of a small stream. She told them: Kids, watch me jump. Then, follow me. One..! Two..! The rabbit jumped over the stream easily. The bear kids opened their eyes very wife and clapped their hands and also admired the rabbit that she could jump so fast.

It is your turn! Here… the first one has to jump first. Be careful! One..! Two..! The one who can jump well will get big honey cake, said the rabbit. The first Bear kid jumped after the rabbit, but he fell into the water in the middle of the Stream. The secondbear kid who was the fattest one jumped and fell into the mud up to his waist. The third bear kid who was the smallest one jumped and fell into the water with his nose just above the surface of the water. Three of them happily played and laughed together i the mud. Let's get out! It is getting dark; we shall go back to the cave now (the rabbit called). The one who comes out first will get the biggest honey cake. Here! Be careful! One! Two! The bear kids competed each other to get onto the land.

Arriving in the cave, the rabbit prepared food for the bear kids and then let them drink the honey in the barrel one by one until they were full. Their fur got sticky and soaked with the honey. Then, the rabbit took them to roll in the kitchen ash. Their sticky fur that touched the ash stood up straight and the three looked like porcupines.

At the same time, the mother of bear arrived, she opened her eyes very wide and asked: Oh! My dear children! Who let you play in the mud? It’s our aunt’s rabbit! (The first bear kid answered) Who took you to have a bath in the honey barrel? It’s our aunt’s rabbit! (The second bear kid answered) Who made you fur look like a porcupine? It’s our aunt’s rabbit! (The third kid answered).

Ah! You bad rabbit! Wait a minute; I will give you a lesson. The mother bear went to take a big stick and was about to hit the rabbit, but the rabbit suddenly escaped into the forest.

- The END -

A SILLY RABBIT

Buck was a very silly and foolish. He was so timid that he would get scared of the ·silliest of things. One day, Buck was sleeping under a coconut tree. In his deep sleep, Buck dream a terrible dream. He saw that the whole Earth was cracking up!

Now some naughty monkey were playing atop the coconut tree, under which Buck lay asleep. The monkeys jumped and hopped on the tree. Suddenly, there was a huge" THUD" It was the sound of a big coconut that fell onto the ground, just next to where Buck was sleeping. Buck started up at this noise and sat straight, pricking his ears. "What could that sound be?" wondered he. And at that very moment, another coconut fell just behind Buck and shook the ground. Not bothering to look behind, timid Buck cried, "Oh, Oh, Oh! It seems that the Earth is cracking up ! My dream seems to come true!!"

With this thought in his mind, Buck jumped up, grabbed his tall hat and ran as fast as he could, All the while Buck kept muttering "Oh, Oh, Oh,!" Another rabbit, called Fluffy, was enjoying the afternoon sunshine, lying on a hammock, with his goggles on. Fluffy saw Buck runriing as if some hound was after him.