How the moon got its phases

Once, in a far away land, in a village at the foot of a mountain, lived a young woman named Ana. Her hair was long, her skin permanently tanned by the sun, she was neither poor nor rich. She was gentle and thoughtful, but not unselfish. Her beauty was unrivalled. When she was a child she had been very popular, but as time went on her friends had turned away. Women feared her, for their husbands would surely stray, men wouldn’t come near, for surely they couldn’t offer anything to please her. At first Ana hadn’t minded her solitude. Adored by parents and grandparents her life was filled with happiness. But in recent years the people who had loved her had passed away and loneliness enveloped her. The vanishing love had left a void in her heart, deep as an ocean trench. Ana’s longing for love and a husband turned into despair.

One night Ana climbed the mountain. Kneeling she turned her face up to the moon. “Curse this face, curse this body. All I want is a husband, someone who can see past my beauty and love me, just love me. Please send me a husband”. She begged the moon over and over until all she could do was weep, her exquisite head cradled in her perfect arms. She didn’t see the stars falling out of the sky trying to console her. At dawn a soft breeze picked up, the leaves on the tree rustling, as if a whisper. Ana looked up at the moon and saw it smile kindly at her: “You’ll have your brown-skin man” spoke the full moon from the sky, “but in return I want the first child that you have with him”. “Moon, you want to be a mother?” Ana cried in disbelief, “Tell me Moon of silver, what do you intend to do with a child of flesh?” As a veil, a cloud obscured the moon, understanding dawned. With no other moon around, the moon’s despair must equal hers. The sacrifice was small; Ana agreed.

A few days later a cinnamon-skinned man arrived in the village. It didn’t take long before he set eyes on Ana - that hair could rival the beauty of a dark lake rippling in the shimmering sun. Nor did it take much time before he went down on one knee – spellbound and scared to lose her to another man. Ana, loving his impulsiveness, agreed. The wedding was glorious and the newlyweds radiated with love. When Ana fell pregnant her resplendence lit up the shades. Of course she thought about her promise and then fast as lightning pushed those thoughts away. The day arrived when Ana gave birth, at dusk he was born. She didn’t have to look at him to know that his skin was white like an ermine's belly, his eyes gray instead of olive - Moon's albino son. “Maldita su estampa!” Ana’s husband shouted, outraged. “This is not my son! You won’t get away with this!” Believing himself dishonoured he went to his wife, knife in hand, voice trembling "Whose son is this? I am sure you have deceived me!" Ana pleaded her innocence, an unlikely story hard to believe. She begged her husband not to hurt the child. The tears welling up behind her large eyes, made her more beautiful than eve, but her husband couldn’t see it. Blind with envy and unwilling to listen, Ana’s love stabbed her to death. Then he climbed the mountain with the child in his arms and abandoned it there, under a full moon. He didn’t turn around to see it covered in stars. He didn’t turn around to see it glide up in a beam of moonlight to his mother’s outstretched arms.

These days the people in the town at the foot of the mountain have long forgotten about Ana. But legend has it, that on nights when the moon is full it's because her child is happy and when the child cries, the moon will wane to make him a cradle.

Mecano – Hijo de la luna

Songwriter: José María Cano