The Bears of Nametoko

The famous hunter Kojuro Fuchizawa hunted bears for their skin and liver. Once he kill a bear he apologize for having to kill the bear saying that it was fate that made him do this job for a living. He felt a great sorrow and understood that it the natural order or way of life for a hunter like him to overcome the bears followed by the shopkeeper overcoming Kojuro, and come back to the bears getting the better of the shopkeeper coming full circle like some sort of cycle. It was absurd but it is how things work in those times no questions asked. I found it strange how he was able to communicate with the bears much like a fairy tale I assume it was his connection as a bear hunter and the ceremony that gave him a sense of satisfaction for the lives of bears he was forced to take. I think when a bear promised him to wait two years in order for the bear to finish his 'business' left in this world, this was a part of the ceremony that led to his grand finale, his glorious death which brought peace and tranquility within the soul of Kojuro. The narrator seemed to be recounting the tale of a mountain hunter as if it was passed through a village as a rumor of legend and is unsure of what Kanjuro felt in his last dying moment.

I would like to better comprehend why the bear mother and her one year old cub mentioned the 'frost' bathed under the shining moonlight? And why was Kojuro unable to slay the big bear? It may had just been simply 'fate' or the effect of so called 'karma' for his actions.