Why Sun and Moon Live in the Sky

Long, long ago, when the sky was still completely empty, Sun and Moon lived on the earth. They had a little clay house with a straw roof, and beside it a small yard with two palm trees.

Sun was friendly and welcoming. Almost every day he went to visit his best friend, Water. Water lived over the hill, in a wide valley, and she always greeted her guest with joy: splish-splash! And off she’d run in waves to meet him.

They would sit together until evening. Sun told all the news, Water babbled her little songs, and the fish leapt out of the waves to listen too.

But one thing made Sun sad.

"Why do you never come to visit us?" he asked one day. "I’ve been to your place a hundred times, and you’ve never been to mine. Not even once."

Water sighed so deeply that the reeds swayed.

"I’d love to," she said. "But your house is small, and there’s a lot of me. Besides, I never go anywhere alone. All my folk come with me: fish, crayfish, frogs, turtles, and even a crocodile. We’d squeeze you right out of your own home."

"Oh, nonsense!" laughed Sun. "We’ll fit somehow."

"No, no," said Water, shaking her wave. "If you want me to come, build a yard that’s big. Ever so big. So big you can’t see where it ends."

Sun came home deep in thought. Moon was waiting for him on the doorstep.

"Why the long face?" he asked.

Sun told him everything.

"Then let’s build!" said Moon, and he rolled up his sleeves.

The next morning they got to work. They kneaded clay, carried poles and wove reed mats. Knock-knock went the walls. Swish-swish went the roof. By day Sun dried the bricks with his rays, and by night Moon made his own light and kept right on working.

The yard grew and grew, until it was so big that from one end you couldn’t see the other. And in the middle rose a house with a tall, tall roof.

"Well," said Moon, wiping his brow, "now the whole river can come if it likes."

Sun ran off to Water.

"It’s ready! Come tomorrow. We’ll be waiting."

The next morning the hosts laid a new mat by the gate, cooked a pot of porridge and set out sweet bananas on the table. No sooner was everything ready than they heard: gurgle-gurgle-gurgle…

There at the gate stood Water, and behind her were all her creatures, as far as the eye could see.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Come in, come in!" called Sun and Moon.

And Water poured into the yard. First the fish swam in: silver ones, red ones, striped ones. Hop-hop! went the frogs. The turtles crawled in slowly, and the crayfish shuffled in sideways, sideways. Last of all came the crocodile. He politely wiped his feet on the mat, but the mat got soaked at once and floated away.

Soon the water was up to the hosts' knees.

"May more of my folk come in?" asked Water.

Sun and Moon glanced at each other. These were their guests, after all. How could they turn them away?

"Come in, come in!"

But Water kept on rising. Now she was sloshing waist-high. The frogs had settled on the table and were finishing off the porridge. The crayfish hid under the bench. A little turtle curled up in the bread basket and happily closed her eyes.

"May more of my folk come in?" Water asked again.

"Come in, come in!" answered the hosts, though a little more quietly.

Before long the water rose over their heads. Sun and Moon had to clamber up onto the roof. They sat right on the ridge with their legs dangling, while down below the crocodile swam past and politely waved his tail.

"May more of my folk come in?" Water called from below.

Sun looked at Moon. Moon looked at Sun. Who turns their friends away?

"Come in, come in!"

And then the water splashed right over the roof. Sun got his heels wet, and Moon got the hem of his cloak wet.

"Oops!" squeaked Sun.

There was nowhere left to go. Sun gave a jump, and what a wonder! He didn’t fall back down. He flew up! Moon grabbed hold of one of his rays and flew up after him. Higher than the palms, higher than the clouds, higher than the birds, all the way up to the sky.

Up there it was roomy, quiet and completely dry. Sun spread out his rays, and Moon shook out his cloak.

"Not bad up here," said Moon. "Plenty of room, too."

"And you can see far, far away," smiled Sun.

They looked down, and there was Water, spread out wide, wide, wide. And in her, as in a mirror, they saw their own faces.

"I told you there were a lot of us!" laughed Water, and all her waves laughed along with her.

And so Sun and Moon stayed in the sky. But they never forgot their friend. Every day Sun shines on Water to keep her warm, and in the evening he sinks low, low, low and touches her with his edge, as if he’s popping in for a quick visit. That’s when the water turns pink and gold.

Moon comes at night. He quietly peeks into every pond, every river, every puddle left after the rain. The fish are asleep, the frogs have stopped croaking, and Water softly splashes to him about how her day went.

Tonight he’ll peek in again, into the pond beyond the village and maybe into your window too. He’ll check that everyone is in bed and tucked in. And then he’ll float on across the sky, quiet and silver, until Sun wakes up.