Many moons
Once upon a time, there lived a little princess named Lenore. She was ten years old. One day Lenore fell ill. She lay in bed all day. Her father, the king was very sad. He went to the princess and said, `what will make you well make you well again, my dear?’
`I want he moon,’ said Lenore. `If I can have the moon, I will be well again.’ The king called the court doctor. `My daughter is suck,’ he said. `If she can have the moon, she will get well again’.
`But you majesty, the moon is thirty-five thousand miles away and is made of copper. I cannot get the moon for you,’ said the court doctor.
The king was very angry. He told the doctor to leave the room. He then called the court magician.
The court magician was a little, thin man with a long beard. The king said, `My daughter is sick. She wants he moon. Only the moon will make her well again.’
`But your Majesty, the moon is made of bronze and it is one million miles away. How can I get the moon?’ said the court magician.
The king became even angrier and sent away the court magician also. And he sat in his room with tears in his eyes.
Just then the court jester came there. `What has happened, your majesty?’
`Nobody can do anything for me,’ said the king. `Princess Lenore is not well. She wants the moon. The court doctor says the moon is thirty-five thousand miles away. The court magician says it is one million miles away. My daughter will not get well unless she gets the moon’.
The court jester went softy into the princess’s room. Princess Lenore was awake, and she was glad to see the court jester. But her face was very pale and her voice was weak.
`Have you brought the moon for me?’ she asked.
`Not yet’, said the court jester, `But I will get it for you. How big do you think the moon is?’
`The moon is as big and as round as my thumbnail,’ she said.
`And how far away is the moon?’ asked the court jester.
`As far away as the top of that tree outside my window,’ said the princess.
`It will be very easy to get the moon for you,’ said the court jester. `I will climb the tree tonight and bring it for you.’
Then he thought of something and asked, `what is the moon made of, princess?’
`Oh,’ she said, ``It’s made of gold, of course silly.’’
The court jester left Princess Lenore’s room and went to a goldsmith. He asked him to make a gold moon as big as the princess’s thumbnail. He then put it on a gold chain.
The court jester took the moon to Princess Lenore. The princess clapped her hands with joy. The next day, she was well again and could get up and go out to play in the garden.
But the king was still worried. He knew that the moon would shine in the sky again. The princess would see it and know that her moon was not the real moon.
So he talked to the court jester again. The jester told him not to worry. He, then, went to Princess Lenore’s bedroom.
The princess was lying in bed. She was looking out of the window at the moon shining in the sky.
`Tell me, princess,’ the jester said sadly, `how can the moon shine in the sky when you are wearing the moon around your neck?’
The princess looked at him and laughed. `That is easy, silly,’ she said. `When I lose a tooth, a new one grows in its place, doesn’t it?’
`Of course,’ said the court jester. `When we luck flowers in the garden, other flowers come to take their place.’
`Yes, it is the same with the moon,’ said Princess Lenore. And she wet to sleep.
Gently the jester tucked the covers around the sleeping princess and went to give the good news to the king.
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