星空故事：月亮的傳說

放大圖片

　今天給大家講一個印第安部族的傳說。很久以前，太陽是一位少女，而月亮是一個少年，月亮暗戀著太陽，卻羞於啟齒，只在黑漆的晚上才與太陽相會。太陽對月亮亦萌愛意，卻始終未能親睹月亮的面貌，於是有一晚當月亮又與太陽約會之際，太陽悄悄地抓了一把灰，然後輕輕地抹在月亮的臉上。翌日，當月亮帶著骯髒的臉孔在天空出現時，太陽終於知曉情郎的身份，可是月亮卻因感到羞愧而從此不敢接近太陽。

　中秋將至，讀者賞月時，不難發現明亮的月面果真有一片片被天文學家稱為「月海」陰影（見附圖左）。自古以來，就有無數關於月亮的傳說，大家不妨藉右圖的幫助，也嘗試著尋找那廣寒宮的玉兔吧。

Legends of the moon

　Today I am going to tell you a story from the American Cherokee people. The Sun was a young girl and the Moon, a man. The Sun had a lover who used to come in the dark of the night to court her. Although she talked with him she had never seen his face. Then she hit upon a plan. So the next time he came, she slyly dipped her hand into the cinders and rubbed it over his face. The next night when the Moon came up in the sky his face was covered with spots, and the girl knew he was her lover. However, the Moon was so much ashamed that he tried to keep away from the Sun ever since. 　■甄枝強　香港天文學會