(2022-12-14) Moon Song & Other Bedtime Tales

Details

Author:	Ozma
Summary:	Gwenivene's Mysterious Greatfather Winter gift for Celaven.
Rating:	T for Teen

Gwenivene first thought to get Celaven a gift that celebrated his own culture and reverence for Elune. But it occurred to her how trite that would be coming from her. Then she learned that Celaven had a deep curiosity for other cultures, and that excited her. She felt it was a perfect opportunity to share something of human culture with him.

Wrapped in glittery, green paper with a silvery ribbon is an old book bound in blue-dyed leather. Stamped on the cover is the title, "Moon Song & Other Bedtime Tales". The book is full of fanciful, beautifully illustrated human children's stories, all involving the moons. The book includes such entries as:

Moon Song: The titular story tells of a young village girl. Night after night, she heard a sad song coming from the hills. Finally she braved the dark one evening and eventually discovered a maiden enveloped in a glowing blue gown, singing the song upon a hilltop. The maiden said she was the daughter of the White Lady and that she fell from the sky, and sang her lament in the hope that her mother would hear her and lift her up again. The girl’s heart broke, and she roused her entire village to come to the moon maiden's aid. The people of the village gathered on the hilltop, all singing the song together until the White Lady could hear their joined voices, leading to find her lost daughter and reunite with her. It is said that the village and that girl’s family were blessed for many generations to come. (It is possible that this is a version of the story of ‘the Embrace’, the rare alignment of the White Lady and the Blue Child.)

The King of the Moons: A greedy and jealous old man had become incredibly wealthy, buying all the land he could and living like a king. But he remained envious of the true king, knowing he could never have such prestige and power. One day, a goblin appeared to him, promising he could sell him something the king could never possess. The old man eagerly agreed, signing the goblin’s contract to buy the moons. In the days after, the old man would strut around proudly, proclaiming himself the King of the Moons and even began to charge the people on his land a “moonlight tax”. The people thought he had lost his mind, but did not dare say so to his face. They merely played along, deferentially bowing and calling him “His Lunar Majesty” and thanking him for providing them light at night. But after several years, one night the White Lady rose as a blood moon, frightening the people. The very next day, one of the farmers discovered a blight in his fields, and it soon spread to other farms. The people grew angry and quickly pointed fingers of blame at the old man. He was the King of the Moons! He must have brought the blood moon that cursed their crops. The “King” protested, promising he would make it right. Knowing he had no true power to control the moons, the old man fled in the night; but he had foolishly chosen an overcast night when the moons were hidden behind thick clouds. In the darkness, he became lost. He pleaded to the sky, begging “his” moons to give him light to find shelter. As if by some miracle, in that moment the clouds parted and the White Lady shone upon the old man, revealing a cave to him. Thinking himself saved, he whooped aloud, shouting that he truly was the King of the Moons, and rushed into the cave. But his proclamation had woken the bear sleeping within, and by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

How the Moons Were Hung in the Sky: This story claims to be gnomish in origin, but the veracity of that assertion is dubious at best, given many of the details. It tells the tale of Lord Tinker, the gnomish god of creation. He had just finished constructing the Sun and hung it in the sky, feeling quite proud of himself. He boasted to his wife, Lady Tick-Tock, about how beautiful he had made the world with his new creation. “Yes, dear,” she said, “but look. See how hot it is becoming, and now nothing can sleep because it is so bright.” Lord Tinker’s moustache bristled. She was right. If he left things as they were, the Sun would cook the world! So he set the Sun on a path, rising up over the world during the day, and disappearing beneath it at night. But Lord Tinker became quite grumpy during the night, when he could once again no longer see the rest of his creations. Lady Tick-Tock saw that her husband was saddened, so she secretly took to the workshop. Using leftover pieces of the Sun, she constructed two new suns, smaller and not quite as bright, that would not heat up the world. She called them moons. While Lord Tinker slept one night, Lady Tick-Tock hung the moons in the sky. The next evening, when Lord Tinker readied himself for bed, determined not to suffer the frustration of a dark night, his wife insisted he stay up with her to see a surprise. When Lord Tinker laid eyes upon the moons, he wept tears of joy that filled the deepest valleys of the world, creating the oceans. To this day, his tears wax and wane just as the moons do in an eternal dance.