Classic Myths | Page 7

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
More than a thousand years ago, on a Sunday morning in the early fall, an old German
woodman told his wife, Gretchen, that he was going after fagots. She begged him not to
go, for it was Sunday and they did not need the wood. The old man only laughed at her,
and trudged away into the forest where no one could see him.
[Illustration: THE MAN IN THE MOON. From an old painting.]
He cut his bundle of fagots, piled them together, tied them with a stout band, and
throwing them over his shoulder, started homeward. Then he noticed that the wild

creatures, that had never stirred as he entered the woods before, were now afraid of him.
The birds fluttered away with a whirring noise, and an old mother hare, which he knew
very well, made wonderful leaps to get herself and family out of his sight. Even a bear
ran from him, instead of attacking him.
Soon he met a stranger with a sad, stern face, who stopped him.
"Don't you know that this is Sunday on earth, when all must rest from work?"
"Whether it is Sunday on earth or Monday in heaven, it is all the same to me," laughed
the old man.
"Then carry your bundle forever, and as you do not care for Sunday on earth, you shall
have a long Monday in heaven, where you shall be a warning to all Sabbath-breakers
evermore."
Then the old man found himself swiftly rising in the air. Quick as a thought he was
landed in the moon, where his wife saw him as she stood outside her door that night to
watch for his coming. There he still stands bearing his fagots, and as all days are
Mondays in the moon, he can never Break Sunday Again.
[Illustration: THE MAN IN THE MOON. From a seal dated 1335. The legend says "I
will teach thee, Walter, why I carry thorns in the moon"]

A STORY OF AN EVENING STAR
Greek
"Every night, mother, I see a beautiful star in the sky so different from the others. It
comes first and shines so bright that it seems as if it were the loveliest star in the whole
sky. Won't you watch for it to-night with me?"
The mother smiled, for she thought she knew which one of the stars Mamie would point
out. Sure enough, that night as they both sat in the hammock watching the sunset, out
came the very star she expected. In a moment Mamie saw it and nearly fell out of the
hammock as she screamed and clapped her hands.
"There it is, mamma! There it is! I know it because it looks straight at me. It knows me, I
believe, for it never trembles a bit, like the other stars! Did you ever see such a lovely
one?"
Her mother smiled an odd little smile.
"What makes you laugh at me, mother? I know you are laughing, by the corners of your
mouth; they go up so queerly. Tell me."
"Why, Mamie, that is Venus you are watching. I have watched her every year since I first

found her long ago."
"Venus? Who is Venus, mother? And what makes you call a star her? I didn't know a star
could have a name. Who named her? Did you, mother? What made you call her Venus?"
"Seems to me you ask a great many questions, little girl. Which one shall I answer first?"
"Did you name my star yourself?"
"No, Mamie, it was named hundreds of years ago when many stars had names given them.
You know people have watched and studied the stars almost since the world began."
"And was Venus a little girl or a woman? I know she must have been lovely or they
would never have given her name to my star."
"Your star, as you call it, Mamie, is at present the evening star. By and by it will be the
morning star. I will tell you where it got its name.
"Venus was a lovely woman, but she never was a little girl. The old, old story books say
that one day as some people were walking