In the West, immortality is often a punishment disguised as blessing. Tithonus aged endlessly, Prometheus bore fire and chains alike, and the Titans suffered beyond mortal comprehension. Eternal life was a crucible of endurance.
In the East, immortality can be a trial, etched into the very bones of the world. So it was with Wu Gang, a young woodcutter with fire in his heart, whose story lives in the pale glow of the moon.
Long ago, in a mist-shrouded mountain, Wu Gang discovered the legendary cassia tree. Its trunk shimmered with silver veins, its leaves whispered secrets older than rivers. He had heard that its sap could grant immortality, and his heart, eager and impatient, surged with desire. With a swing of his axe, he struck.
The tree shivered, but did not fall. A voice, cold and endless as lunar night, boomed from the heavens: "Wu Gang, mortal, you sought eternal life with arrogance. Your punishment is eternal striving."
The mountain quaked, clouds roiled, and in an instant, Wu Gang's axe was bound to the tree. Every strike he made healed instantly; the branches remained unbroken. The moon rose, pale and serene, watching silently as his arms ached, his resolve was tested, and the years passed like shadows moving across stone.
Villagers who looked up saw a flicker on the moon—an axe swinging against a silver trunk—and whispered stories that traveled with the wind. "Wu Gang chops the uncut tree," they said. "Forever learning, forever striving."
Yet, in his endless labor, Wu Gang discovered something the world below could not see: the rhythm of patience, the grace of humility. Each strike became a meditation; each unbroken branch, a teacher. In failure, he found wisdom; in repetition, understanding.
To this day, if the moon is clear and the night quiet, one might glimpse a shimmer of silver against the lunar glow. It is Wu Gang, still swinging, still learning. The immortal woodcutter reminds all who watch: life cannot be seized, nor immortality grasped in haste. True endurance is quiet, patient, and eternal, one strike at a time.