Many Moons

Will a child become ill if she does not get something that she wants very much? Will she be well again if she gets what she wants? Here's a delightful story about a girl who wants the moon.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom by the sea, there lived a little Princess named Lenore. She was 12 years old, going on 13. One day Lenore fell ill and took to her bed. The Royal Physician came to see her and took her temperature and felt her pulse and made her stick out her tongue. He was worried, and sent for the king, Lenore's father. The king came to see her.'I'll get you anything you want,' the king said. 'Is there anything you want?' 

'Yes,' replied the Princess. 'I want the moon. If I can have the moon, I'll be well again.


Then the king went to the throne room and sent for the Prime Minister. Soon the Prime Minister came into the room. He was a large, fat man with thick glasses.


'I want you to get the moon for the Princess Lenore,' said the king. 'If she can have the moon, she'll get well again. Get tonight, tomorrow at the latest.'


'The moon,' said the Prime Minister, 'is 35,000 miles away and its bigger than the room the Princess lies in and it is made of copper. I cannot get the moon for you.'


The king flew into a rage and told the Prime Minister to leave the room and send to the Royal Magician to him. The Royal Magician was a little, thin man with long face. He grew very pale  when the king told him to get the moon for his daughter.


'Nobody can get the moon,' said the Royal Magician. 'It is 150,000 miles away, and it is made of green cheese, and it is twice as bis as this palace.'


Then king flew into another rage and sent the Royal Magician back to his cave. Then he sent for the Royal Mathematician, a bald-headed, near-sighted  man with a pencil behind his ear.


Then the king asked the same question to the Royal Mathematician.


'The moon is 300,000 miles away,' said the Royal Mathematician. 'It is round and flat like a coin; it is made of cement, and it is the half size of this kingdom. Moreover, it is pasted on the sky. Nobody can get the moon.'


The king flew into still another rage and sent the Royal Mathematician away. Then he rang for the Royal Court Jester, who came dancing into the room in his cap and bells, and sat on the foot of the throne.


'What can I do for you, Your Majesty?'


'The Princess Lenore wants the moon,' said the King sadly, 'and she cannot be well till she gets it.'. But nobody can get it for her. Every time I ask anybody for the moon, it gets larger and farther away.'


'They all are wise men,' said  the Court Jester, 'and so they must all be right. The thing to do is to find out how big the Princess Lenore think it is and farther away.'


'I never thought of that,' said the king.


'I'll go and ask her, Your Majesty.'


The Princess Lenore was glad to see the Court Jester, but her face was very pale and her voice was very weak. 


'Have you brought the moon for me yet?' she asked.


'Not yet,' said the Court Jester, 'But I'll get it for you right away. How big do you think it is?'


'It is just smaller than my thumbnail,' she said, 'for when I hold my thumbnail up at the moon it just covers it.'


'And how far it is?' asked the Court Jester.


'It is not as high as a big tree outside my window,' said the Princess, 'for sometimes it gets caught in the top branches.'


'I'll climb the tree tonight when the moon gets caught in the top branches and I will bring it to you,' said the Court Jester. The he thought of something else. 'What is the moon made of, Princess?' he asked.


'Oh,' she said, 'its made of gold, of course.'


The Court Jester went to see the Royal Goldsmith and had him make a tiny golden moon just a little smaller than the thumbnail of the Princess Lenore. Then he had him string it on a golden chain so the Princess could wear it round her neck.


The Court Jester took the moon to the Princess, and she was overjoyed.  |The next day she was well again and could get up and go out in the gardens to play.


But the king knew that the moon would shine in the sky again that night. If the Princess should see it, she would know that the moon she wore on a chain was not real moon. So he said to the Prime Minister, 'We must keep the Princess from seeing the moon tonight. Think of something.'


The Prime Minister said, 'We can make some dark glasses for the Princess.'


This made king very angry. 'If she wore dark glasses, she would bump into things,' he said. 'and she would be ill again.' So he called the Royal Magician, who stood on his hands and then stood on his head and then stood on his feet again.


'I know what we can do,' he said. 'We can stretch some black velvet curtains on poles to cover all the palace gardens like a circus tent.'


The king was so angry that he waved his arms around. 'Black curtains would keep out the air,' he said, and Princess Lenore will be ill again.' And sent for the Royal Mathematician.


He walked round a circle, and then he walked round in a square and then he stood still. 'I have it!' he said. 'We can set off fireworks in the garden every night. When they go off, they'll fill the  sky with so many sparks  that it'll be as light as day and the Princess Lenore will not be able to see the moon.' 


The king flew into such a rage that he began jumping up and down. 'Fireworks would keep the Princess awake,' he said, 'and she would be ill again.' So he sent the Royal Mathematician away.


When he looked up again, it was dark outside and the moon was just appearing. He called the Court Jester and said, '' When the Princess sees the moon, she'll be ill again.'


The Court Jester said, 'If your wise men can not hide the moon, then it cannot be hidden. But who could explain how to get the moon? It was Princess Lenore. Therefore, the Princess Lenore is wiser than your wise men and knows more about the moon than they do. So I will ask her.' He went to the Princess Lenore's bedroom.


The Princess was in bed, but she was wide awake and she was looking out of the window at the moon shining  in the sky. Shining in her hand was the moon the Court Jester had got for her. 


'Tell me Princess Lenore,' the Court Jester said, 'how can the moon be shining in the sky when its hanging on a golden chain around your neck?'


The Princess looked at him and laughed. 'That is easy,' she said. 'When I loose a teeth, a new one grows in its place, doesn't it? And when the Royal Gardener cuts the flowers in the garden, other flowers come to take their place.'


'I should have thought of that,' said the Court Jester.


'And in the same way with the moon,' said the Princess Lenore. ' I guess it is the same way with everything.' Her voice became low  and faded away, and the Court Jester saw she was asleep. Gently he tucked the covers around her.




                                                                                                        JAMES THURBER




JAMES THURBER (1894-1961) WAS A FINE AMERICAN HUMORIST WHOSE STORIES HAVE GIVEN PLEASURE TO GENERATION OF READERS.