Crescent Moon Bear Part 2

(This is the second of 3 posts that contain the Japanese folk tale of the Crescent Moon Bear, paraphrased from the version found in Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes).

The Crescent Moon Bear, Part Two

The sun was shining when the young woman woke up the next morning, and she could even see little green plants poking up here and there, through the snow. She got up, stretched, and set out to find the crescent moon bear. The woman walked all day. Near evening, she found a huge pile of scat, and heard a low rumbling growl. Just off in the distance she could see the bear, lumbering into a cave.

The young woman took off her pack and made a bowl of food. Carefully, quietly, she crept near the mouth of the cave and set the bowl down. Then she turned and ran back to her own little hollow. The bear smelled the food. He came to his doorway and looked around. He cautiously sniffed the air. Finally he approached the bowl and circled it several times. When he was sure there was no threat, he gobbled the food in one gulp and went back into his cave.

The next day, the woman left another bowl of food. The bear did a cautious survey, then ate it. The same the following day. Every day the woman left a bowl of food for the bear, and every day she stayed just a little bit closer to the cave. Her food was near gone. She decided that the time had come. She took a deep breath, screwed up her courage, and made another bowl of food. As usual, she set it down near the mouth of the cave. But this time she didn't hide. She stood right next to the doorway. 

The crescent moon bear emerged and he saw the bowl of food. He also saw a pair of small human feet. The bear roared so loud that the woman felt the rocks rumble. She was very scared but she didn't move. The bear stood up on his hind legs and loomed over her. The tips of his long claws glanced the top of her head. He growled and snarled and showed his teeth. The woman was shaking like a leaf but she didn't run. In a small voice she said, "Please dear bear. I've come all this way to see you and fed you all these nights because I need a cure for my husband. Please help me."

The bear dropped back down onto all fours and looked the woman hard in the face. She would be so easy to  kill. But he felt sorry for her. The woman looked into the bear's brown eyes and suddenly she saw every village, every town, every life flash in an instant, the whole round of the world. Suddenly, she was at peace.

"What do you need," asked the bear. "I need one hair, just one hair from the crescent moon at your throat," she answered. The bear thought a moment and said, "Ok, you can have one hair. But take it and be quick about it. Get it and run." The bear raised his head and the woman put one hand on his throat. She could feel his heart beating and blood pounding. With the other hand she grasped a hair and yanked. The bear growled. She had the hair!

"Thank you, oh thank you, of thank you," said the woman, bowing. The bear growled and roared loud and deep and shook his head and the woman remembered and she ran. She ran and ran. She tumbled down the steep mountainside with the sharp rocks and the prickly plants. "Arigato zaisho." She raced under the trees with drooping boughs. "Arigato zaisho." She climbed over the boulders as large as loaves of bread. "Arigato zaisho."

The young woman reached the edge of the village.......

Now what? Stay tuned for the final installment which will post July 11th.