The Moon

(Nápsáno pro anglicky mluvící školu ve Slovinsku, jako můj návrh pro naši loutkovou hru inspirovanou pohádkou Phoenix, Dragon and the beutiful pearl.)

A long time ago, dragon and phoenix were friends. Every noon, they met on an island in the middle of the lake, and they talked. The lake was called a shining lake, but no one knew if it was really shining because it was impossible to recognize that during the day and no one dared to go out in the dark. At that time, there were no stars and no moon. The monsters that climbed out of the forest every night where so terrible that you cannot even imagine them.
About that phoenix and dragon talked that time when the phoenix said suddenly
“Let’s wait until the night comes so we see if this lake is shining or not.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” said dragon “Monsters can catch us.”
“Don’t worry it will take them some time to get to the island behind us and when they are close we can fly away” said phoenix.
So they waited until sunset. After a while, a beautiful shining lake appeared before their eyes.
“It is beautiful” said phoenix.
“Yeah” said dragon.
They waited some more time and then phoenix said
“We must go”
“No, I am going for that” said dragon and he dived to the water. Phoenix did not like water so he stayed on the island. Suddenly, the dragon emerged. He had a huge glowing ball in his mouth.
He spat it out and said: „Now it will no longer illuminate only the lake but also the mountains around us.“ He wrapped himself around the sphere and fell asleep.
„You can’t sleep here, monsters can catch us!“ Phoenix said. „Monsters don’t go into the light,“ the dragon yawned. So the phoenix settled on top of the sphere and fell asleep.
The next day, the inhabitants of the mountains and the forest by the lake came to the phoenix and praised his sphere. Some said he would buy it, but the phoenix refused. Then a woman came with a cane and a hood over her face. She was a disguised celestial goddess. She told him that she would get him to a place where the sun shines forever and where everyone rejoices. But the phoenix said that firstly he does not trust her and secondly that he would have to relocate all the inhabitants of the mountains and forests there.
“No, I can do it” said the woman. “But if you give me that sphere I will give it to the sky to shine during night to the whole world.”
But suddenly, the dragon came and he said „She’s my sphere, mine. And I won’t give it to anyone.” „But it’s always better to put a sphere in the sky to shine over the whole world,“ the phoenix said. „Maybe, but she can’t do it. She would have to be a goddess.”
At the word „Goddess“, the goddess disappeared. She hired a thief who should steal the sphere for her.
That night, the phoenix suddenly woke up. He saw the light receding. He thought they were fireflies but then he saw the dragon snoring next to him and said: „What kind of light is this?“
„Light, light, … you mean my sphere?“ said the dragon awaken.
„Someone is stealing our sphere!“ said the phoenix. Dragon opened his eyes and flew away to catch the receding light. But it began to take off at lightning speed up to the height where no earthly creature could fly. The dragon did not even try to do it as it was night. The glowing ball stopped moving away. The dragon thought that if he he would practice a lot he could fly to two-thirds of the distance to the sphere with a phoenix on his back. The phoenix would then fly up to it and he could take it out of the sky. The dragon practiced diligently for a month on a lonely mountain and then went in search of a phoenix. He found him drinking tea with a griffin in his home.
“Do you want some tea?” said the griffin.
„Just a little bit,“ said the dragon and turned to the phoenix: „You have to help me! I know how to get the sphere back.“
„Why to get it back? Now it’s so much better,“ said the phoenix. He pointed to the glowing ball in the sky.
„You’re crazy,“ said the dragon and flew off to the sphere. He must fly for it alone, he must manage it… And he made it indeed, he flew up to the sphere. Then he wondered what he was going to do with it. If he threw it to the ground it would shatter. He should carry it to the ground in his mouth. So he put it in his mouth and started his return to the ground.
Everywhere there was darkness. The griffin locked himself with his cubs in the house. And he just waited the day to come again. Actually, he was just hoping. But the phoenix knew it was the dragon’s fault. He decided to fly to the place where the sphere could be seen last days. Once the phoenix flew higher than the dragon was currently. He thought who knows what happened to the dragon in the time they haven’t seen each other. He saw the dragon and the light was still shining through his teeth.
„You changed your mind, and you came to help me!?“ said the dragon.
„No, put the thing back in the sky!“
„How could you force me to do it?“ said the dragon. The phoenix caught fire and the dragon ran away as quickly as he could. Out of his mouth, tiny pieces of sphere fell and they became stars. But the phoenix was faster. He caught the dragon and forced him to return the sphere to the goddess. She put it back in the sky and forbade the dragon to approach the Moon (how the goddess decided to call the sphere) or any star.
But after some time, the dragon started to violate the command. He began to like the taste of the moon, so sometimes he bit off the moon. But because he is afraid the phoenix could get angry with him and catch fire again, he spits it out after some time.