Why the Moon is Bright on Some Nights
Why the Moon is Bright on Some Nights is a story told to teach us to remember to care for ourselves also while caring fr others.
Why the Moon is Bright on Some Nights
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a very poor old woman. The woman lived in a small mud house that had thatched walls. Weeks could go by without this woman eating, and people in the community didn’t really bother. All these happened when the moon used to come down from the sky on some days to rest.
The moon was very fat with lots of hide skin. It was because of these hides of skin she gave off a bright light. The hides of skin made her look round, and she had lots of meat.
One day as the moon came down to rest, her house was very close to the old woman’s. She saw the woman sitting outside her house, about to die. The moon rushed over to her and said,
“My goodness! What is wrong with you?” but the old woman was so tired and weak that she couldn’t even talk. Immediately, the moon cut off some of the skin and gave it to her to eat.
She waited by her side till she got her life back. When the old woman has awoken, the moon said to her –
“Old woman, I do not know who you are, but I truly want to help you. Every night, I will come down, and you will cut some of my skin and eat. It will keep you nourished and well for a long time.”
The old woman was very happy with this. She said, “Thank you. Thank you very much, moon. I have been starving for days, and no one cares. I will do all that you tell me to do.”
So every night, the moon would come down, and the woman would cut a piece of her skin and use it as meat. This continued for months until the moon became very small. For this reason, she couldn’t give off such bright light as before.
The people soon gathered to find out what was wrong with their moon. In the meeting, there was a little girl; she lived close to the old woman’s house. She always saw how the moon would come down every evening, and the old woman would go out with a knife and come back with a hide of skin.
“What are we going to do? The moon doesn’t shine as it used to before,” one of the people said.
The people argued back and forth till the young girl spoke up.
“My people, I live close to an old woman, and what I see every night frightens me.’
“What do you see?” They asked her.
“Why are we listening to a small girl go on about tales of an old woman? Don’t we have better things to discuss?” Some of the people said, but then a man who looked like their leader raised his hand, and the crowd became silent.
“Young girl, go on. Tell us what you normally see every night,” the man said. The young girl gulped and then said.
“Every evening, I see the moon come down very close to where I am staying, and then this old woman goes out with a knife, and when she is coming back, she comes back with a hide of skin. This same woman was about to die, but overnight, we saw her grow fat and curvy.”
“So, young girl, what exactly are you saying?” The people asked her.
“I am just saying that maybe we can be looking after this old woman to see what she is up to every night.”
The people readily accepted that, so they decided that they would have to keep watch on the old woman. That evening, they all went to the young girl’s house to observe this old woman’s activities.
That same night, the moon came down as usual, and the old woman stepped out with her knife and basket to get her food. But before she could cut any hide of skin from the moon, the people rushed out screaming. This scared the moon so much that she returned to the sky and never came back down. After much deliberation, the people decided to leave the old woman in the bush to starve to death, and she did.
Since that time, the moon has never returned to the Earth. This is because she is very scared of people, so she stays in the sky. Once in a while, she gets thin and then gives off a little light, and then she gets fat again and gives off much light like she used to do before the old woman started eating her skin.
Moral Lesson
Don’t please others to the detriment of yourself.
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