Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Image Source. The Man in the Moon.

    I enjoyed reading the origin story about the moon, "The Man in the Moon" (Story Source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899)). The story tells of a blacksmith who is unhappy and wishes to be another thing (a stone on a cool mountain), and has his wish granted by a wise and powerful man. However, he is still unhappy, and wishes to be a different thing, another, and yet another, until he wishes to be the moon. Still unhappy, he wants to be a blacksmith again, but the wise man tells him "I am weary of your changing. You wanted to be the moon; the moon you are, and it you will remain."

    While there are several lessons to be learned and many ways to interpret this story, one that resonated with me the most was to be grateful for what you have. The blacksmith is ungrateful for his situation, and after being everything he wishes to be, realizes he had a good life to begin with. I like the way this story was told, with the very common folklore tool of a powerful being who can give somebody whatever they want, only for that person to misuse that power. I would like to implement some version of this method into my own storytelling!