Mara ' s Tear ( Book ) Content . Well , children , if you all gather round , and sit quietly , I ' ll tell you the story of Mara ' s Tear and Shandar ' s Sorrow Long , long ago , long before your grandmother and I were were born , long ago , there were two young children growing up in a village far , far from here . They played together , and ran through the woods together , exploring their little world and learning to see things through each other ' s eyes . This was very different from their parents because Shandar was the son of Maldor , who was captured in a war and forced to work as a slave for the village baron . Their village and another both needed the land between them to feed the villagers , and fought and fought , until many of the villagers died . Maldor was wounded in battle , and left for dead by his fellows . He was captured and forced to work in the fields as punishment . Shandar was not allowed to play with Mara , but she was very small and the other children didn ' t like to play with her , so she played with Shandar against her father ' s command . And they learned that they were really not very different at all . They couldn ' t understand why their parents hated each other so . Well , Shandar and Mara played together for many years , and learned to love each other as they grew up . They knew that they couldn ' t let their parents know , because it was forbidden for them ever to marry , since they were from different villages and the war was still going on . They tried and tried to figure out how they could be happy together , and finally decided that they must run away from their village . They would try to make a new life for themselves in another village , far , far away from where they grew up . One night , while planning their escape , they were discovered by the town guards . Shandar tried to fight them , but they tied him up and dragged him away to the prison inside town . Mara was taken home , and her father was very angry with her , and told her that she could not leave their home again . He went to the house of another farmer , and asked if their son would marry Mara , so that she could never see Shandar again . The marriage was planned for the next week . Shandar , meanwhile , was to be killed for daring to be with Mara . He was beaten , and placed in a stockade . He was placed in a stockade , and they were to hang him the next day . When Mara found out that Shandar was to be killed , she knew that she could never live without him , and climbed out her window and ran into the woods , crying and crying . She ran and ran , and soon was lost . It was very dark , because back then they did not have any moons in the sky back then to make it safe for little boys and girls . Soon she found herself in a part of the woods she had never been before , and sat down on a rock since she was very tired . Well , the rock was a secret entrance to a cave where a very mean Orc lived . When he came back from his hunting , he found Mara curled up asleep on his rock , and thought to himself , " Hmmm , a tasty little girl . I shall save her for my breakfast ! " He grabbed her and took her into his cave , moving the rock back so that she could not escape . She was sure to die , and tried to escape , but the evil orc just laughed and laughed at her , until she finally gave up . When the villagers found out that Mara had run off , they were very worried . No one knew the woods very well , and all were afraid of the evil orc that lived there . Only Shandar was not afraid , and he begged and begged for the baron to set him free , so that he could go look for Mara . The Baron finally decided to let Shandar go , for no one else was brave enough to go and rescue Mara . So Shandar was set free , and he set off into the woods to go and rescue her . Shandar searched and searched , but could not find poor Mara . Finally , he sat down on a rock to rest for a moment , and as he sat down , he noticed a piece of cloth under the rock . It was a piece from Mara ' s cloak ! He realized that she must be under the rock somehow , and knew that the orc had captured her . He pushed and pushed on the rock , and finally was able to roll it aside . He climbed down into the orc ' s cave , but it was very dark , and he could not see anything . The evil orc , when he heard his front door moving , hid in the shadows to see what was coming into his home . When he saw that it was just a little man - boy , he grinned to himself and thought , " Now I have lunch , TOO ! " When Shandar came near , the orc grabbed him , and began to squeeze the life out of him . Back in the village , the people soon realized that they were foolish to let a young man go off into the woods by himself . They gathered all of their weapons , and set off to find the two lost children . When they finally came upon the clearing near the orcs ' cave , they saw a strange and wondrous sight : A slain orc near the entrance to the cave , and Mara holding the head of poor Shandar in her lap . Shandar had killed the orc , but not before the it gave Shandar a mortal wound . Mara ' s tears flowed freely from her eyes and splashed upon Shandar ' s face , reflecting the light from the villager ' s torches . Shandar was filled with sorrow at the thought that he had saved Mara , only to lose her because of his own impending death from the battle with the orc . He cried out to Mara ' s namesake , the goddess of love , to help them . The Goddess Mara recognized their true love and wept at their loss . Not having power over death , she could do nothing to save Shandar , but she knew that she could not let their love die . She reached down from the heavens and picked up Mara and Shandar in her arms , and placed them high in the heavens . They could be together always , and provide light in the dark night to others so that they may be safe from the evils in the world . The villagers were amazed at this sight , and vowed to honor the love of Shandar and Mara by learning more about themselves and their neighbors , so that the war that had been going on as long as anyone could remember would end . Shandar ' s sacrifice for the one he loved showed them that he was worthy of their respect , and that those from his village were just as proud and worthy as themselves . And , that ' s why , children , every night we can see Mara ' s Tear and Shandar ' s Sorrow spending their lives together high in the heavens , lighting the way for all the little boys and girls like you .