The Monkey and the Moon

Poem by Hakuin

The monkey is reaching
For the moon in the water.
Until death overtakes him
He'll never give up.
If he'd let go the branch and
Disappear in the deep pool,
The whole world would shine
With dazzling pureness.

 ----translation by Norman Waddell

Chinese tale

There was once a monkey happily swinging from tree to tree. He swung to a branch where there he saw an amazing sight. Below him was a pond with the glimmering image of the moon shining in the water. He was amazed by its beauty and brilliant white light. Hanging on to the branch with one paw, he used his other paw to reach for that beautiful moon. He reached and he reached, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not reach the moon. And he refused to let go of the branch to get closer to the moon. Try as he might, even until death, he will never give up trying to reach for the moon in the water and he will still hang on to his branch.
But by grace or chance, the branch he was hanging onto broke. The monkey plunged into the water. He slapped around in the water for a moment, looking for the moon. Then he looked up into the sky and - there! There it was! The monkey saw the moon shining brightly against the dark night’s sky.