Man in the Moon by: 6 th graders

When people say that they can see a man in the moon, they mean that they can see a whole person. It is usually an old man with a small dog. There are many legends of how the man got on the moon.

The Story of how the man came to live on the moon On a Sunday morning, some time ago, an old man was gathering wood. He put the sticks into his bundle and started home. When he met a man going to church, the man told him that he shouldnt be working but going to Church. The old man said that it didnt matter to him that it was the Sabbath. The man going to Church said, Then bear your bundle forever, and as you value not Sunday on earth yours shall be a perpetual moon day in heaven; and you shall stand for eternity in the moon, a warning to all Sabbath-breakers. So now the man is forever on the moon.

There once was a circular village in the mountains where a boy named 'Running Antelope' lived with his grandmother. He was with a group of people who went to visit a prairie village ruled by a cruel chief. The chief liked a girl named 'Little Hill', but could not get her to like him back. When Running Antelope saw Little Hill he was surprised by her beauty and spent most of his time with her. Finally they were married, and the couple lived in her village. However, the chief was very unhappy with this turn of events, and threatened that some day he would take her away from Running Antelope. Almost every night when people gathered in the center of the village for games and entertainment, the chief would try to win their affection by casting beautiful and valuable pieces of coral, turquoise, and beads onto the ground for people to pick up. Running Antelope collected many beads and went home to present them to his new wife, but when he got to his lodge, Little Hill could not be found anywhere. So Running Antelope snuck up to the chief's lodge, and as he expected, he heard within the voice of Little Hill singing. He burst into the lodge and demanded the return of his wife, but the chief pulled out a knife and Running Antelope had to flee. The chief grabbed his quiver of poisoned arrows and chased after him, shooting at the young man as he ran. Running Antelope was almost killed when he came to the sandy bank of a lake. There he prayed to the Water spirits of the lake to save him, and without further hesitation he jumped into the waters. The Water spirits shot a great swirling geyser of water into the sky which carried Running Antelope all the way to the moon. When the chief came upon this place, he shut his eyes tightly for fear that the spirits would kill him. So Running Antelope was saved from the chief but forever separated from his beloved wife. He is the man that we see in the moon.

Different Types of Moons Many people see a face on the side of crescent moons. People can also see a face in full moons. This is not what people mean when they say they can see a man in the moon.

In Reality In reality, when you see a face or person in the moon, you are really seeing craters and seas on the moon. These land forms create the figures that you see on the moon and relate to looking like a man.

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