Week 2 Story: From Man Into Moon

From Man Into Moon

According to the law of the conservation of energy, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but simply changed from one form into another.

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Once, in a place where it was always day, there was a blacksmith’s apprentice, only but eighteen summers old. He was a lazy sort of boy who always found comfort napping in the warm, bright sunlight. When he wasn’t working, he spent his days humming a favorite tune, sipping cold tea, and lounging around in the grass until the knees of his trousers were stained green.

One day, while lying in the sun in the field where stone-cutters find their stones, he sighed to himself. “Oh how I wish I were a stone. I tire of working in the overly hot blacksmith’s workshop. I want to lie here in the warm sun for all my days.”

A wise man who was walking by overheard the boy. Because he happened to be a wise man who could control any manner of things, he decided to grant the boy’s wish. The man raised his elegant hand into the air, and snapped his long fingers.

Instantaneously, the lounging boy began to feel heavier and heavier until he was a stone. Thrilled at his new life of forever lounging in the sun, the stone settled into the grass and basked.

However, since a new stone was made, one must go.

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Nearby, there was a large stone that was being chipped at by a stone-cutter. Spending its days in the sun, it had wished time and time again that it might instead be like one of the stone-cutters who came by day after day to cut it. “Oh how I wish I were a stone-cutter. I tire of long hot days in the sun, and never ending chipping away. I want to stand and walk and chip at stone myself.”

As the boy transformed into a stone himself, the first stone felt an odd sensation flow over it. Soon, the stone realized he was no longer a stone at all, but instead a stone-cutter. He stretched his new torso, examined his new hands, and pushed himself up with his new arms and legs.

For the rest of his days, the stone-cutter would walk around the fields barefoot, relishing in the feel of grass between his toes. He would marvel at the beautiful sun and collect anything he could that was blue, for that was the color of the rushing river. His favorite thing to do, by far, was to climb the tallest tree he could find, a complete change from being stuck on the ground.

However, since a new stone-cutter was made, one must go.

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In the nearest town, there lived a stone-cutter. He was a quiet and thoughtful man who rose with the sun and breathed in the summer. He could always be found with a warming smile on his face. He loved to watch the birds and strum his guitar. Though he seemed a happy man, he was truly sad.

One day while going out to cut stone, he looked to the sun and sighed. “Oh how I wish I were the sun. I tire of days spent alone, bending over stones. I want to shine above the earth and smile down on everyone to bring them warmth.”

Suddenly, the stone the stone-cutter was chipping at started to change. As the stone turned into a stone-cutter himself, the first stone-cutter felt himself growing warmer and warmer. Soon, he realized he was looking down on the earth from far away.

The stone-cutter had turned into the sun, as he had also wished. He rejoiced when he saw he could now smile down on the earth to bring people warmth.

However, since a new sun was made, the other must go.

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The sun had been the sun for almost longer than it could remember. Once, the sun had been a boy who lived on earth. One day he had wished to be the sun, and his wish was granted. The sun was not upset by this, but it had grown tired of millennium after millennium of constantly pouring warmth over the earth and its inhabitants.

From the sky, the sun could see that beyond the reaches of its light, there lived a darkness that was speckled with smaller lights. Not knowing what these smaller lights could be, the sun always wished to see them closer. “Oh how I wish I were something else. I tire of this constant brightness and heat. I want to rest and be with the mysterious smaller lights.”

On this particular day, when the sun made its wish, changes where happening down below on the earth. A boy transformed into a stone, a stone transformed into a stone-cutter, and a stone-cutter was transforming into the sun.

Here, the magic set forth by the wise man paused. For if there was to be a new sun, what would the sun become? The wise man pondered, and using his wisdom made a decision.

The sun felt itself moving closer to the earth and becoming smaller. When its transformation had finished, it had become the moon. Never before had this earth known a moon, or night time for that matter. The sun had always been in the sky, bringing warmth and light.

However, now there was a beautiful moon, able to rise after the sun to provide light at night and sit among the stars.

And so the boy had become a stone, the stone had become a stone-cutter, the stone-cutter had become the sun, and the sun had become the moon. They had all received their wish, and all the world and sky was happier for it.

 

(Moon by rkarkowski on pixabay)

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Author's note: I took the story of the man in the moon and changed it up a bit. In the original story, there is a blacksmith who complains that he is always hot in his work so he would rather be a stone. A wise man changes him into a stone, but then he complains the heat from the sun is too hot, so he would rather be the sun. The wise man changes him into the sun, but the man complains he is still to hot and wishes to be the moon. The wise man changes him into the moon, but the man still complains that being the moon is worst of all and asks to be changed back into a blacksmith. The wise man refuses and the man stays as the moon. 

I wanted to re-imagine this story because I wanted the meaning of it to change. I did not want it to just be one character who complains over and over again, instead I wanted multiple characters with a similar desire to be something else, and when they get it they are thankful.

Bibliography. "The Man in the Moon" from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson.