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Then he took a honeycomb from his bag and said, "Lick this honey and all your pain will disappear." He squeezed honey into the glass. "Caw," the crow drooled, "I know you are a nice fellow, Bear." "Honey?" the fox frowned as if something had occurred to him and he was absorbed in thought. At this undesirable turn of events, the bear squeezed honey into a glass again, shook the glass, and handed it to the fox. "This is a special kind of wine honey," said the bear. "You cannot distract me with a bribe. Oh?" the fox sniffed and put out his long tongue. Grabbing the glass, he gulped down the honey. "Oh, this tastes terrible. But please give me the same again." "Terrible?" the bear pricked up its ears, "You can't have any more if you think it's terrible." The fox changed in a hurry, "I was only joking. It was so good that it would be fit for a king." "I bet it is," said the bear. Then, the bear, fox, and crow toasted each other with a glass of honey. I was taken aback but remained silent because I was not one a true woodland inhabitant. 
I wondered when my order would come. I began to worry. My stomach started to growl."It's late." "You ordered Honeyed Salmon Born at Full Moon, didn't you?" said the bear, licking around his lips. "Yes." "Then, wait for some more time. The time has not come yet." "The time?" "Yes. The salmon has not been born yet." "What?" I was surprised again, "Then I would have to wait a few years. You got to be kidding!" "It's all right. Just a little more time," said the bear wiggling his ears and looked up at the sky. "Look, the moon came up." What? The full moon was up in daylight? No way. But, surely, a white moon was afloat in the middle of the blue sky. A newborn moon, as round as a doughnut. "Salmon born at full moon go up the long, long moon river to spawn at this time of the day. And they cast off delicious skins. Now, look." The bear pointed to a little stream in the field. The glistening stream meandered like a silver sash beyond the hills covered with violets. As I looked, something jumped high in the middle of the stream. It was only for a moment but I thought I saw the gleam of a dorsal fin of a salmon. There, it happened again. There could be no mistake. "Now the salmon will start to rise to the moon," said the bear in a shrill voice, a bit excited at what was going to happen soon. "Look, here come salmon! A big school of salmon," shouted the fox, too. "Let me see," the crow flapped his wings and floated in the air. "It's true. They are swimming up the rainbow river." Probably, I was infected with the excitement, too. I felt thrilled. When I looked next, a brilliant rainbow arched from the white of the full moon to the stream. Under the rainbow, there was a spray of water, probably caused by numerous salmon, surrounded by a cloud of mist. "It jumped!" shouted the bear. From among the spray, a slim figure jumped out like an arrow. It was a well-shaped salmon, which started to swim up the rainbow river as fast as it could. The salmon swam against the flow of the stream along the curved rainbow river and climbed into the sky toward the moon. The salmon eventually arrived at the moon and jumped high. Following this leader, numerous salmon splashed and swam their way up the river, reflecting the colors of the rainbow and rising toward the moon. Among the salmon that swam in the river of this rainbow bouquet, some slipped out of the way. The bear, fox, crow, and I stared absentmindedly at the beautiful spectacle. A fantastic atmosphere pervaded the field where the faint shadow of the rainbow and the shadows of salmon frolicked with each other. "I think I know why the salmon is called a divine fish," I mumbled to myself. We just sat there, watching the salmon swim. Their figures were awe-inspiring indeed. "I wish I were a salmon and could swim up to the moon," the bear said quietly. I agreed with him because I felt a bit lonely. The salmon, which kept rising to the moon one after another, twitched their fins with joy because they were returning home. The salmon shed white tears, which glistened like pearls. If it had been at night, they would have looked like they were gleaming like fireflies. It was a shame that all of this occurred in the daytime. How far did the rainbow stretch? I strained my eyes but could not see the end. Maybe it was a bridge to a distant country. After a while, the rainbow gradually faded until it dissolved into the sky. At the same time, the noise of the swimming salmon was also gone. Only the stream flowed quietly. "Here's your lunch, sir." The girl with pointed ears, appearing out of nowhere and holding many dishes in her hands. Among the dishes, was salmon fried to a beautiful brown. The bear dropped honey on the salmon. "Now here are the dishes full of nutrition." The good smell of salmon born at full moon reached my nose. I gripped my knife and fork. "Oh, I can't wait to eat," said the fox. "Mumble, mumble," the crow already put some pieces in its mouth. "Wait. We will eat this with our friends in the woods," said the bear. Then, the bear pulled the string to ring the bell. Immediately, the buds on the trees, previously green, burst out into white blossoms in all the woods as far as the eye could see. The blossoms looked like Christmas trees with white lamps. Sweet fragrances of flowers came drifting on the wind. "The friends in the woods are coming," the bear said joyfully, "Actually, all the creatures in the woods are offered this feast of salmon born at full moon because they are available only once every four years. And it's our rule on such occasions to invite one human guest to the party." "Let's drink to salmon and honey!" shouted the bear. "Let's drink to the poor bees!" I said. "Let's drink anyway," said the fox and crow in unison. I saw many animals running to us from the woods. I saw squirrels, deer, and raccoons, all running. The sun shone in the sky. My lunchtime started at last. |
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