Week 6 Storytelling: How the Moon and the Sun Came to Be

Long ago there once was a brother and a sister who were very close siblings. Their father had passed away due to a terrible accident and just a couple years after, their mother became very sick with an incredibly rare disease. Before she passed, their mother gave each of her children a small gem that glowed very brightly.

“If in life you come across a very troubled time where there is no escape, swallow this small gem and you will be set free,” said the mother weakly. She placed each gem into separate lockets and hung them by a string around her son and daughter’s necks. Shortly after, their mother passed.

Since then, the brother took care of his younger sister and they both continued to live in a small house near the river.

One morning, the two siblings went out to the market together to get some fresh vegetables and meat. Upon their arrival back home, they noticed something strange about their house as several of their windows were shattered and their yard torn apart.

“Something or someone has destroyed our home! We should get help,” whimpered the little sister in fear.

“It will be okay. We must check the damage,” replied the brother.

Just then, a whole herd of lions dashed out of the house and rushed towards the brother and sister.

“Give me your precious gems or we shall devour you!” yelled the leader of the lion pack.

The brother hurriedly took his sister’s hand and they darted off as fast as they could. The brother knew that they would never be able to escape the lions so he quickly convinced his sister to climb a tree.

They both climbed up a tree and stood on one of the branches when they were far enough from the ground.

The lions however, cleverly began to use their claws to cut down the tree.

The sister looked at her brother with troublesome eyes and asked what they should do.

“The lions will never leave until they have our gems. We must swallow them like mother told us before she passed,” said brother.

They both swallowed their gems and as the gem resided in their stomachs, the gem began to glow brighter and brighter.

In that moment, the brother transformed into the sun while the sister transformed into the moon and they were able to forever escape the vicious lions.

That is how the sun and moon came into existence.

The Moon and the Sun flickr

Author's Note: My reading for this week contained many stories that explained how things in nature became to be. Even though of course these reasons aren't scientifically correct, many of these stories were easy and entertaining ways to explain something that many people had no idea why something was the way it was. I was particularly interested in "Why the Sun Shines More Brightly than the Moon" because it reminded me of a story my mother used to read to me when I was a kid. With this reading and the childhood story combined, I was inspired to write my own version of how the sun and the moon came to be. In the original story, the children cry to the heavens and a rope falls down that they climb into the sky. I changed that transformation with the gems that their mother had given them which was more inspired by the folktale by Dean Fansler. I wanted to write a story like this because it is a silly way of explaining something that is normally a bit complicated.

 You can read the original Korean folktale here.

Bibliography: "Why the Sun Shines More Brightly than the Moon" by Dean Fansler (1921) Web Source