In immemorial glorious times, people sometimes visited the Moon. The sky then covered the Earth like a pot turned upside down. It seemed to be so close to the earth's surface that a person believed that if you climb a high mountain, you can easily touch it with a long bamboo pole. Therefore, communication with heavenly spirits was not difficult. After all, they lived in the sky, and in order to talk with them, it was enough either to climb to the top of a high mountain, or to look for them at its foot in the villages. After all, spirits showed great interest in the affairs of people and settled, as a rule, not far from them. Sometimes, a person has some difficulties that the heavenly spirits can resolve, he climbs a high mountain and, pointing at the sky with a bamboo pole, asks for mercy.
Let's say, the dry season has come - people ask for rain; the heat has come - they ask to send clouds; but as soon as the cold hits, they immediately cry out for warmth. And the spirits fulfilled all the people’s requests. It seemed that the heavenly spirits were always happy to serve people. However, on earth everything is not so simple. Sometimes people abused the kindness of spirits and bothered them over all sorts of trifles. In the end, the spirits got tired of earthly affairs, they left their former abode and moved so high that people were unable to reach them with a bamboo pole.
Soon after this, bears attacked people's homes. People became afraid to live in the world, and they decided to ask the moon dog for help. After all, in their opinion, the moon dog was capable of exterminating these terrible beasts.
People built a high staircase from strong saijan wood, chose the bravest and bravest man and sent him to the moon. At the same time, they made sacrifices to the guardian spirits of the Moon: they placed two bowls filled with warm water and two lamps at the base of the stairs. People jealously ensured that before the daredevil returned to Earth, the water in the bowls did not cool down and the flames of the lamps did not go out. For this purpose, a specially appointed person was constantly on duty at the stairs. A daredevil brought a lunar dog to Earth. She exterminated almost all the bears. Only a few managed to hide in the thicket of the forest. People calmed down, felt safe and again sent a daredevil to the moon to put the dog in its place! This time, a young, carefree girl was watching the bowls and burning lamps. And since she had nothing special to do, she lay down and realized. Waking up from sleep, she saw that the water in the bowls had cooled. She threw out cold water and filled the bowls with warm water. However, haste never leads to good. Warm water overflowed and extinguished the flames of the lamps. The guardian spirit was offended by such neglect towards him and threw the ladder. But the lunar dog was already firmly standing with its front paws on the surface of the Moon, and everything went well with it, but the daredevil, who was still on the stairs, fell and died.
Luna was completely saddened. It seemed to her that people were devoid of gratitude, and she decided not to help them anymore. She also moved further away from the Earth, so far that man could no longer reach her. However, the moon dog was not like the moon. Having once rescued people from trouble, she now felt affection for them. Since that time, either on a full moon or the day after the full moon, she invariably approaches the edge of the Moon in order to make sure that everything is in perfect order on Earth. When she first set out to look at the Earth, the moonlight was so bright that it prevented her from seeing everything properly. So she took a big, big bag and threw it over the moon. And now, when the bright face of the Moon is hidden from people, they know that it is the moon dog that is showing interest in them. Then they start firing guns, beating gongs and shouting with all their might so that the moon dog understands that humanity exists, remembers her and values her friendship. And the day when the Moon becomes dark is called the day of a lunar eclipse.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru