*Maori Fairy Tales from New Zealand: On the Moon*

*Once upon a time, on the Moon, there was a beautiful palace. Its owner was Marama. He’s the only person who lived there. One day, he couldn’t stand the loneliness. He wanted to share his happiness to live there with someone. He looked downed the Earth and fell in love with a beautiful girl named Ina. She loved her family and her friends so much especially an old friend. Sometimes later, because of being deeply in love with her, Marama met her and brought her to the Moon. To make her happy, he also dragged a palm-tree from the Earth and grew on the Moon.Ina lived with Marama very happily but she always missed her family and her friends. They also missed and kept searching her. When she missed them so much and couldn’t bear it any longer,she asked Marama to bring her old friend to visit them. After the trip, before the old friend left, Ina told him to tell her family and friends on the Earth how happily she lived on the Moon so that they could feel the same. Ina never lost her love for her old earth-home.Even now, when the moon is clear and clouds at the full, you may see her gazing earthward, the tall palm-tree above her head, and the calabash at her feet.*