The Man who Saved the Moon

A kind-hearted man, looking down into a well, saw the reflection of the moon in the water.

“Oh! My God! The moon has fallen into the well,” he muttered mournfully and hurried to fetch a hook tied to the end of a long rope.

Quickly, he let the hook fall deep into the well, holding fast to the rope.

The hook hit the water and, reaching the bottom of the well, caught fast to a stone.

Thinking that he had got the moon, the man pulled up the rope with such force that it broke and he fell sharply down flat on his back, nearly unconscious.

The first thing he saw when he recovered was the moon, which now shone serenely high up in the sky.

The man groaned in pain but said contentedly, “I broke my back, but, thank God, the moon is saved.”