One night as I was looking up at the stars and moon, I asked, "Where did they come from?"

My teacher, hearing my question, walked over and said to me, "They were a gift from Sky to his lover Night."

"Really now?"

"Oh yes," came the reply. "Would you like to hear the story?"

Naturally I said yes, and so my teacher began to tell the tale.

"In a time long past, Lord Sky cast his eye over the world, and it so happened that it fell upon the lovely Maiden Night. Sky being Sky, he began to court her."

"Now, Night seemed receptive enough to Lord Sky's advances, but she knew of his fickle heart, and asked him for an assurance that he would not leave her."

"Sky brought Night up on high with him, and carefully fastened her black cloak to his blue mantle. The pins were capped with white diamonds; these are the stars you see above. And for a clasp, he used a silvery orb, and to us it is known as the Moon."

My teacher stopped here, and I thought about his words for a while. Eventually a question arose, and I asked, "If that's so, why does the moon gradually darken to nothing, and then brighten again before repeating the cycle?"

My teacher said, "Though bound to Night as his consort, Sky's attentions still wander. When this happens, Night wraps her fingers around the clasp joining them, pulling him back to her. We see the Moon darken at these times, and when she is satisfied, she lets go. The Moon then brightens. And since Sky will ever stray, so the Moon will always go from light to dark, dark to light, and back again."