Tradition and story time — not medical advice

Sun, Moon, and Wind Go to Dinner

Retold for young children from Indian Fairy Tales (ed. Joseph Jacobs, 1892), public domain.

Ages 2-4 · Honesty & Trust

Sun, Moon, and Wind were once all invited to their mother's house for dinner. Sun and Moon went along together, taking their time, chatting pleasantly on the way and greeting everyone they passed.

Wind, though, rushed on ahead in a tearing hurry, arriving long before dinner was even ready, and grumbling that everyone else was too slow. When Sun and Moon finally arrived, warm and cheerful, their mother had a lovely meal ready and waiting, and they all sat down happily together.

But because Wind had been so impatient and rude on the way, blowing dust and knocking things about in his rush, their mother decided that from then on, Wind would never again be welcome to settle calmly in one place the way Sun and Moon could.

And that, the story says, is why the sun and the moon move steadily and gently across the sky, while the wind still gusts and rushes about restlessly, in through one door and straight out another, never quite invited to stay.

Talk about it (ours, not from the source): being patient and kind on the way to something is its own kind of good manners. What's a time you had to wait patiently for something?

Source: Indian Fairy Tales, ed. Joseph Jacobs (1892, David Nutt) — "Sun, Moon, and Wind". Public domain. Read the original.
Why public domain: US: first published 1892, more than 95 years ago, so public domain in the US. Editor Joseph Jacobs died 1916; India's copyright term (life + 60 years) means the compilation has also been public domain in India since 1977.

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