08 How the Moon Was Kind to Her Mother

月亮对母亲的爱

(By Carolyn Sherwin Bailey)

Once upon a time, a long, long while ago, the Sun, the Wind, and the Moon were three sisters, and their mother was a pale, lovely Star that shone, far away, in the dark evening sky.

从前，在很久很久以前，太阳、风和月亮是三姐妹，她们的母亲是黑暗夜空中遥远地闪烁着的一颗很淡却又很美丽的星星。

One day their uncle and aunt, who were the Thunder and Lightning, asked the three sisters to have supper with them, and their mother said that they might go. She would wait for them, she said, and would not set until all three returned and told her about their pleasant visit.

有一天，三姐妹的叔叔和婶婶，也就是雷公和电母，邀请三姐妹去和他们共进晚餐，母亲也允许她们去赴约。她说她会等着她们，在她们归来之前不会落下，还要听她们聊聊这次愉快的拜访。

So the Sun in her dress of gold, the Wind in a trailing dress that rustled as she passed, and the Moon in a wonderful gown of silver started out for the party with the Thunder and Lightning. Oh, it was a supper to remember! The table was spread with a cloth of rainbow. There were ices like the snow on the mountain tops, and cakes as soft and white as clouds, and fruits from every quarter of the earth. The three sisters ate their fill, especially the Sun and the Wind, who were very greedy, and left not so much as a crumb on their plates. But the Moon was kind and remembered her mother. She hid a part of her supper in her long, white fingers to take home and share with her mother, the Star.

于是，太阳穿上金色的衣服，风穿上一件拖尾裙，走过时发出沙沙的声响，