We know how frequently similar themes appear in the folklore of different cultures -- creation stories, animals with special talents, husband and wife fables. Just as I was leaving my room for supper, a young woman from the hotel presented me (as a "sleep well" gift) two pieces of sesame candy and a paper scroll tied with a red ribbon containing the story "Cuoi, the Boy on the Moon." Cuoi, collecting firewood in the forest, notices the healing power of banyan trees and uproots one to carry home with him. He asks his mother to care for it but when she throws dirty water on its roots it begins to uproot itself. Cuoi grabs on to its roots and is lifted up to the moon, which becomes his new home. Vietnamese children think that on certain nights they can see Cuoi sitting beneath his banyan tree in the curve of the moon.
I grew up looking for the man in the moon, that shadowy face smiling or frowning down on us. Japanese children see the rabbit in the moon. And there is more than one version of Cuoi's story, as shown here!
I grew up looking for the man in the moon, that shadowy face smiling or frowning down on us. Japanese children see the rabbit in the moon. And there is more than one version of Cuoi's story, as shown here!
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