Once upon a time, there was a place where every night was especially dark, so dark that you couldn’t see your fingers. There was no light in the sky, and the stars did not shine, as if the whole world was covered by a thick black cloth. In fact, in the beginning, when God made the world, there was light at night, but then somehow the light was gone.
There were four young men living in this dark place. They kept hearing that other places were bright at night. So one day they decided to go out and see what was out there. As they walked, they went to another country. It happened to be evening that day, the sun had just set, and the sky was slowly darkening, but just then a glowing orb suddenly appeared on top of the trees, hanging there like a lantern, shedding white, bright light. It wasn’t as blinding as the sun, but it was enough to see the way, even the small stones on the ground.
They found it very strange, so they asked a farmer who was pushing his cart by, “Uncle, what’s hanging up there? How come it’s still so bright at night?”
The farmer smiled and said, “That’s the moon. Our mayor here bought it for three dollars and hung it on the tallest oak tree. He dusts it and oils it every day so it stays lit. Each of us gives him a dollar a week and he takes care of this moon for us.”
With that said, the farmer pushed his cart away. The four young men stood still, you looking at me, I looking at you, their minds moved.
The first young man said, “Hey, this is a good idea! There is a big oak tree in our hometown, if we can move this moon back and hang it at our place, we will never have to walk in the dark at night again!”
The second thought and said, “It’s no use just thinking about it, you have to do it. Why don’t we find a way to transport it back? People here can still buy a new one anyway.”
The third smiled and said, “I’m the best at climbing trees, I’ll go get it down.”
The fourth immediately said, “Then I’ll prepare a wagon and we’ll do it tonight.”
With that, they divided up the labor. The fourth lad got a wagon, and the third climbed the tree, carefully drilled a small hole in the moon, put a rope through it, and slowly lowered it down. The bright shining orb was gently put into the wagon, and they took a large cloth to cover it for fear of being discovered.
No one stopped them on the way, and they took the moon back to their home town without any trouble. When they arrived, they found a tall, strong oak tree and put the moon back up. In an instant, the whole village lit up! The houses were bright, the children jumped for joy, the old men squinted and smiled, and even the dwarfs, who usually hid in the cracks of the rocks, ran out to see what was going on. Some of the children wore red clothes and danced in circles on the grass holding hands like it was a festival.
From then on, these four men took care of the moon – oiling it once a week, dusting it off, and charging everyone a dollar. Life went on quite peacefully and happily.
But in time, people get old. After a few years, the first man became very ill and lay dying. Before he died, he said to the other three, “The proudest thing in my life is that I brought the moon back home. Can you promise me one thing? When I am gone, please put a quarter of the moon into my coffin as a bit of light that I took away.”
When the others heard this, they couldn’t bear to part with it, but they agreed. When the man died, the mayor of the village climbed up a tree and carefully cut off a quarter of the moon with a large pair of scissors and put it in the coffin to accompany him to his burial.
From that day on, the moon in the sky became a little smaller and the light was not as bright as before, but it could still light the way. Then the second man also died, and everyone cut off another quarter of the moon to accompany him. The moon was even darker. When the third man left, it was cut again. When the fourth man also left this world, the last bit of light from the moon was gone, and the world went back to its old darkness.
But a strange thing happened. Under the ground, those buried in the grave of the dead, but found that the pieces of the moon around them slowly put together, re-emitting a weak light. The light was not strong, but it was bright enough for them. Their eyes had long been accustomed to the darkness, and when they suddenly saw the light, they felt especially clear instead.
Thus, one by one, these dead people crawled out of their graves and opened their eyes to survey the world. They realized that they could still move and walk, just like when they were alive. Some ran to the taverns to drink, others went to the theater and danced, and still others got drunk and fought and quarreled, making a lot of noise in the streets.
The noise went higher and higher, and at last it reached all the way to heaven.
St. Peter, who was guarding the door of heaven, was shocked when he heard the noise below, thinking that there was a big mess on earth and that the devil might be at work. He hurriedly summoned the heavenly soldiers and generals and prepared to go down to earth to fight. But when he himself rode down to take a look, he found that it was not a war at all, but a group of dead people were singing and dancing in the streets, making a mess.
St. Peter frowned and exclaimed, “What are you doing? If you’re dead, you should stay quietly underground, why are they all running out?”
The men pointed in the direction of heaven and said, “We don’t want to be like this, but there is light over there! We were awakened by the light and crawled out on our own.”
St. Peter looked up and realized that the moon was gone, having been stolen by four mortals and cut into four separate pieces for burial. Now the pieces fit together in the ground and instead brought all the dead to life.
He sighed and said, “This won’t do, there has to be order in yin and yang. The living govern the day and the dead govern the night. Now that you have come out to make trouble, the living cannot live in peace, and the dead cannot rest in peace.”
So he took back the scattered moons piece by piece, put them back together in the sky, and hung them back up. From then on, the moon hung in the night sky again, rising and setting on time, no longer belonging to anyone and no longer able to be bought, sold or divided.
And that once dark place finally had normal nights – sometimes bright, sometimes dim, changing with the moon as naturally as breathing.
The truth behind the story:
This story is ostensibly a fairy tale about four young men who steal the moon, share it, and end up causing chaos. But it is actually saying a very profound truth:Some things cannot be privatized, especially nature and public resources.
The moon represents nature’s gift to all – light, air, water, sunlight …… These things should be shared by all. But once someone tries to take it for themselves, set a price, charge a share, or even take some of it with them when they die, it upsets the balance of the whole system.
The four young men started out with good intentions, wanting to brighten up their hometown, but they went about it the wrong way – they turned the public light into private property. As a result, as they died one by one, the light was divided little by little, eventually returning not only the living to darkness, but also the dead.
By finally putting the moon back in the sky, St. Peter is telling us thatThe true order is to let nature return to nature, and to let what is shared be shared.
What does this story tell us about a truth?
1.Not all good intentions lead to good results.The four men who wanted to help their hometown had good intentions, but they went about it in the wrong way – stealing, occupying, and sharing – and created bigger problems instead.
2.Public resources cannot be privatized.The moon, like air and sunlight, is shared by all. If anyone can take it away, sell it, or share it, everyone suffers in the end.
3.Death and life have their own laws.The dead should not return to earth at will, and the living should not control nature. For the world to function properly, the rules must be respected.
4.Greed destroys beauty.At first you just want the light, but later you even want to take a share of it with you when you die. A little bit of greed ends up costing everyone the light.
So, although this story sounds like a fairy tale, it reminds us:Cherish what is shared, don’t let it become a tool for a few; do good, but also use the right method.Light, should illuminate everyone, not just shine into someone’s grave.
