"I don't know what that part of the story means. Maybe we will find out
sometime. But can you think of any day of the week that might be named
after Saturn?"
"Why, Saturday! surely that is the one, isn't it?"
"Yes, and the weeks never return either, do they, Mary?"
DIANA, QUEEN OF THE MOON
_Greek_
"When we were at grandpa's last summer, we used to stay out so long,
playing under the trees in the dooryard, that nearly every night we
saw the moon.
"Sometimes it was big and round, and sometimes it looked like grandpa's
sickle, only it had no handle.
"And you ought to have heard the queer stories aunt Hattie told about
the moon. Some of the stories were very funny, and some were very
beautiful.
"Let's find a window where we can see the moon and then tell stories
about it. Come, boys," and little Jack led the way.
"Here is a grand place to sit, Charlie. Right here, all of us together
on this sofa, and you must tell us a story."
So Charlie began:
"This is one of the stories I like best; maybe you won't, though.
"Apollo, the god of the sun, had a twin sister named Diana. Apollo liked
to hunt with his golden bow and arrow, and his sister loved him so much
that she was always with him. He taught her how to use the bow and arrow
as well as he could himself. Sometimes their mother would set up a
target for them, and she was just as proud of Diana's quick eyes as of
Apollo's strong hand, for no matter what they aimed at, Diana could
shoot as well as Apollo. By and by, when Apollo had grown too old for
idle sport, he was given the sun to rule over, and Diana begged for
something just as grand to do. 'Such work is too hard for my brave
girl,' her mother would say, but at last Apollo said he would help her,
and so she was given the moon to rule over."
[Illustration: DIANA. From a statue in the Louvre, Paris]
"Why, Charlie, how queer that sounds, for you know the sun does help the
moon to shine," said Jack.
"Keep still, Jack; it is almost nine o'clock, and I can't stop to talk
about the queer part; you must just watch for that," and Charlie went on
with the story.
"Diana was as grand and proud, driving the silver chariot of the moon,
as Apollo in his gold chariot of the sun. Sometimes, when her work was
over, she left the moon and came to earth again to hunt. She would call
her friends, the maidens she used to play with, and away they would go,
each with a silver bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows fastened at
their backs.
"One day, while they were hunting, they heard strange dogs in the woods.
Each one of the girl hunters hid behind a tree and waited. Diana ran
from her tree to a cave so that she could not be found. At last a
foolish hunter came in sight. He seemed to act as if he knew he ought
not to be there, and he wandered from left to right, as if he had never
hunted before. Then he started for the very cave where Diana was hiding,
for he knew by the willows a spring was there."
"Oh, my!" said Jack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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