The Hare in the Moon

Cast, cut painted glass shapes wall mounted through machine stitched background made of multiple colored threads, 28x28", 2018

Once there was such a drought that all the elephants went on a search for water. They found a lake that was still full so there they stayed to drink and bathe.

 The problem was that they unknowingly trampled the hares that lived on the banks of the lake.  The leader of the hares saw that he must act in order to save his tribe.

 He waited until the moon was rising and placed himself in a small tree just in the path of the moonlight in order to make himself look as though he was actually in the moon.

Then he called out to the elephants that he was an ambassador from the Moon.  He told them they had been hurting his tribe and that they could see for themselves how angry the moon was if they looked in the lake.  Sure enough there was the moon in the lake quivering with anger.  The Hare threatened the elephants with dire consequences if they did not leave Moon Lake and allow the Hares to resume their peaceful life.

The elephants believed all this and went off to search for water elsewhere.

This is my brief version of a much more elegantly written story retold by J.E.B. Gray in Tales from India.