THE JADE RABBIT (aka the Moon Rabbit)
One day, the Jade Emperor decides that he wants help preparing the elixir of life for the immortals in the Heavenly Realm. He feared that the humans would be too selfish and untrustworthy if he gave them such an important roles, so he thought an animal would be better suited to have this responsibility. The Jade Emperor comes down to earth, disguised as a beggar, and goes to search for a worthy animal in the forest. He cries out for help and eventually three animals approach him to see if they could help him; a monkey, fox, and a rabbit.
The monkey, fox, and rabbit go into the forest to search for food. The monkey returns with fruits he gathered from the trees and the fox returns with fish he caught in a nearby stream. However, despite searching throughout the entire forest, the rabbit is unable to find any food for the disguised Jade Emperor. When the rabbit returns to see him eating the fruit and fish, he feels sad that he was unable to find him any food. He realizes he can sacrifice himself so the man can eat, so he throws himself into the fire as an ultimate act of selflessness.
The Jade Emperor returns to his original form and stops the rabbit from being burned. He takes the rabbit to the moon, feeling pleased that he found the most noble of creatures to take on the role of creating elixirs, and teaches him to make divine medicine and keeps him safe from humans who want to steal the elixir of life.
The rabbit works hard and eventually masters the skills needed to pound the right ingredients to create the elixir of life. The Jade Emperor makes the rabbit's fur a dazzling white. The heavenly glow from its smooth and bright fur was so beautiful that it looked like precious jade, which is how the rabbit came to be called the Jade Rabbit by other immortals.
It is said that if you look up at the full moon and squint slightly at the markings in its surface, you can still see the Jade Rabbit with his pestle and mortar, making the elixir of life.
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