"Yes, he started for Diana's cave, but the minute he was near enough he
felt a splash of water that seemed to cover him from head to foot and he
heard Diana say:
"'Now go and tell, if you can, that you have seen Diana.'
"Poor fellow! He could not move. As he stood there he found his arms
were changing to the straight fore legs of a deer. Horns came out of his
head, his brown eyes grew bigger, and so did his ears, and in a few
minutes even his own dogs did not know him. He bounded away, but his pet
hounds sprang at him and caught him.
"Diana and her friends were miles away, and no one could save the poor
fellow from the fate of a hunted deer."
"Oh, I think Diana was cruel," said Jack.
"I thought it served him right, when I heard it," Charlie said. "He knew
he had no right in Diana's forest, and she can't hunt in the moon, for
they say there are neither trees nor animals there."
JACK AND JILL ON THE MOON MOUNTAINS
_Norse_
"Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To get a pail of water;
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after."
That is what your father and mother used to say when they were children.
So did your grandfather and grandmother when they were little, and for
hundreds of years children have laughed at poor Jack and Jill's mishaps.
Now, I will tell you how the story first began.
In Norway, people used to believe that the chariot of the moon was
driven by a glorious youth, Mani. He was lonely in heaven. One night a
little boy on earth was sent by his parents to a well to get a pail of
water. This boy's name was Hjuki. He asked his sister Bil to go with
him. They had to carry with them the big bucket fastened to a long
pole, for there was no well-sweep. They thrust the pole, with the
bucket at the end of it, into the water, and, as they were both busy
straining every muscle to raise the bucket, Mani stood beside them and
helped them.
To the children he looked like a friendly lad and they were glad
of his help.
Bil balanced the pail on the pole and together they started to carry the
water home.
The weight was so great on Hjuki's shoulder, for he tried to take the
heavier end, that he stumbled and down they both went.
Mani wanted the children's company and so picked them up and carried
them through the sky to the mountains of the moon. There you can see
them when the moon is full, wandering about, seeking to return, falling
and going out of sight, just as they did on earth.
They still carry the bucket and the pole, hoping yet dreading to meet
their parents. They fear that their parents think they ran away from
their task. But try as hard as they can, Mani keeps them from finding
the way back to earth.
THE MAN IN THE MOON
_German_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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