The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1888-03-08
The Man in the Moon.
News and Courier.

| 11'cI y pouH HIS ScSli tllc lll1li III lue
moon; but how many, even of the wis
est OF our neighbors, know who he is?
Most Of us, at any rate, have stared at
him night after night, singly or in coup
les. from babyhood up, and are as far
from knowing his other name now as
We were from capturing him bodily
when he seemed to look down on us
from about the level of the nurses head.
We do not remember, indeed, ever to
have heard the question raised, whether
he had Il name, and as for the accidents
Of his overhead career nothing what
ever on the subject has been incorpo-
rated in the nursery records, save the
meagre account of his single excursion
to England in years long gone by, and
Of the one game of leap frog, in which
he played stationary part about the
same period.
1t is usually assumed that he is alone,
but there is diversity Of belief on this
point in some countries and i'll astro-
nomical circles below the stars. How
he got into his present position is also a
matter that is vigorously explained. 1t
is we'll known that he carries a bundle
of sticks OF his back, but it is not GER
tain that he has collected these to throw
at the cats which he watches so intently
half his nights,as some have been found
to declare. Dante calls him Cain; Chau-
Ger speaks of him as undergoing punish
ment up there for theft, and gives him a
thorn bush to carry, whereas Shakes
peare, whilst assigning to him thorn
load, by way of compensation gives him
dog for companion. The general be-
lief, however, was that his offence was
not stealing, but Sabbath-breaking.
Like the gentleman mentioned in the
Book of Numbers, he was caught gath
ering sticks on Sunday, and as an ex-
ample to mankind, was pilloried in this
conspicuous place with the objects of his
quest bundled upon his back. Another
legend Identifies him with the figures of
Isaac in the act of carrying fuel for his
contemplated sacrifice of his son, while
the Jews have Talmudical story that
Jacob is in the moon, and that his face
is occasionally visible.
The Swedish peasantry explain the
lunar spot as representing a boy and girl
bearing a pail of water between them,
whom the moon once caught in her
horns and carried off into the heavens
legend current also in Icelandic my
thology.
This shows, at least, that he has been
in his present quarters very, very long
time, since boys and girls do not carry
, pals Of water between them in these
days. Perhaps. however, such an Incl
dent happened once and the pair were
: caught and fixed in the sight of all the
world as great and permanent curios-
ity. All the stories cannot be true, in
any event, when they vary so widely.
A German table says that man and a
} woman stand in the moon-the man be-
| cause he strewed briers one Sunday
t morning in the church path, the wo-
: man for making butter on the same
day. The latter carries her butter tub
the former his bundle Of thorns. The
: Dutch have it that the unhappy man
: was caught stealing vegetables. The
: natives of Ceylon have hare instead
= of man in the moon, the hare having
achieved that honor by jumping into Z
fire to roast himself for the benefit O.
Buddha. The Chinese represent the
moon by Il rabbit pounding rice in 3
mortar. Their NEUROLOGICAL moon
Jut-ho, is figured by beautiful young
woman with double sphere behind hel
t head and rabbit at her feet.
+ According to the classic tale, the
e youth in the moon is probably Endy
Y mion, beloved of Selene, and that's
: why so much "spooning" is occasionet
. by the round-faced orb of night. Tht
e Egyptian moon bears the figures o
/ Nunos and his mother Isis. Plutarcl
says Sibylla is in the moon, and Glen
ems Alexandrinus quotes Serapion t
O prove there must be something in ;
claim which is sustained by so higl
= and so aged authorities. The Austria
q lians, who have their own reasons fo
e not caring to assign rabbits to heavenl.
/ places, say that the moon was nativ
cat, who fell in love with some one else
O wife, and was driven away, to wande
e ever since. Among the EsquimauX tn
4 sun is maiden and the moon is he
brother.
The Khasias, of the Himalaya, sa.
d that the moon falls every month in low
with his mother-in-law, who throw
ashes in his face; whence his spots.
This legend combines the improbabl
e and the probable in so extreme degree
h even for legend, that it need not b
/. considered.
r The Malays believe that the moon is
e woman and the stars her children. Thi
5. is contrary to the facts known-sinc
n how on earth can the man in the mool
e be woman? The Malays evidently at
d a hopelessly benighted people.
= There is but one way out of all theS
varied and perplexing theories, and tina
> is to reject them altogether. We know
u very we'll that there is man in th'
e moon, and, since we can't possibly learl
e who he is and what is his name, why, W
10 must treat him as we treat everybod.
y else of our acquaintance, and take hin
II for what he is or what he seems to be.
, The Federal Balance Sheet.