But the question is, how did he get in the moon, and what is he doing there? Most people can see only a face in the moon, and not always that; but in old times it was firmly believed that there was an actual man in the moon, with a bundle of sticks on his back, which he had to carry always as a punishment for gathering them on Sunday.
Some of the old English poets represented the man in the moon as a thief, who had been sent there for stealing, with a thorn bush on his back. Sometimes he had a dog with him for company, and in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream it is said,
"This man, with lantern, dog, and bush of thorn,
Presenteth moonshine."
In Sweden, the country people say that the spots on the moon are a girl and boy carrying a pail of water between them, whom the moon once kidnapped and carried up to heaven. But the Germans see a man and woman in the moon, who were put there for punishment; the man because he strewed thorns and brambles on the path to church to prevent people from going there on Sunday morning, and the woman because she did her churning on that holy day. The man has to carry a bundle of thorns, and the woman her butter tub, and to stand in the moon always as a warning to other Sabbath-breakers.
The Dutch say that the man was caught stealing vegetables. But in the island of Ceylon they speak of "the hare in the moon," instead of the man, and tell this story about it:
Buddha, the god whom they worship, was once a hermit on earth, and got lost in a forest. He wandered about until he met a hare, which said to him, "I can help you out of your trouble; take the path on your left hand, and it will lead you out of the forest."
"I am very much obliged to you," replied Buddha, "but I am very poor and very hungry, and have nothing to offer you as a reward for your kindness."
"If you are hungry," returned the hare, "I am again at your service. Make a fire, kill me, roast me, and eat me."
Buddha made the fire, the hare at once jumped into it, and has been seen in the moon ever since.
There are any number of old superstitions and strange beliefs in regard to the moon. In Suffolk County, England, it is considered unlucky to kill a pig when the moon is waning. The pork, so the old wives say, will waste in the boiling. Another fancy is that to look at the moon for the first time through glass brings ill luck. According to an old rhyme,