The Fairy and the Hare was the best story out of my selection. We begin our story with a hare that lived in a small village. This specific hare wasn't like the others though, as it was the sweetest out of all. He had three friends, a jackal, a water-weasel, and a monkey. The four friends met up one day to talk and the hare taught everyone how to love everyone they came into contact with. The hare told his friends that they should not eat any food they found the next day, but give it to someone in need. The jackal found a hut with food and after no response, he took the meat with him. A fisherman had caught fish and had hid them in the sand to come back and grab, and the water-weasel found this hiding spot. After calling out asking whose fish this was, with no response, the water-weasel took the fish. The monkey then climbed the tree and grabbed some ripe mangoes. Lastly, the hare went out hunting for others. The hare leaped with joy at what he thought he could offer to someone to eat, himself.
There was a sweet fairy that lived in the forest, named Sakka. This fairy knew everything that happened in the forst, from the tiniest ant's action to the large bears. The fairy knew these four friends had been out hunting look for food for the smaller animals, so she changed herself into an old beggar man. She first approached the Jackal begging for food, who gave up his piece of meat he stole. Next, the fairy went to the water-weasel, who gave her his fish. Next, she went to the monkey who gave her all his fresh mangoes. Lastly, the fairy went to the hare, who offered himself as food. The fairy made a fire and the hare gladly jumped into it, but the flames were as cool as water and didn't burn him.
Source:
Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat
(The Hare:
wikipedia)
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