A take on an ancient Peruvian tale, the book Moon Rope tells the story of Fox who persuades Mole to climb with him on a grass rope he has braided and (with the birds' help) hitched to the moon. Fox trains his sight upward and is not seen again except by the birds, who claim they can spy him in the moon still. Mole, nervously looking downward, falls; the birds carry him back to earth amid the jeers of the other animals, and to this day he prefers his solitary tunnel. Simple though it is, this retelling emphasizes its timelessness as a story: on one hand there is the insatiable desire to transcend earthly bounds; on the other, the fear of the unknown.
Moon Rope/Un lazo a la luna by Lois Ehlert, translated by Amy Prince. Harcourt Brace & Company, N.Y. 1992.
