Legend

of the

Red Moon

3asafeer.com

Author: Asmaa Emara

Illustrator: Maia Aboud

The original work of this book was made possible through the generous support of the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) Partners (the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision, and the Australian Government). It was prepared by Asafeer Education Technologies FZ LLC and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ACR GCD Partners. Any adaptation or translation of this work should not be considered an official ACR GCD translation and ACR GCD shall not be liable for any content or error in this translation.

Jimmy was so happy. He was spending his vacation in the village, where his Grandpa was the mayor. Everything in the village was beautiful,

especially the moon, which looked spectacularly red that evening.

While Jimmy was drawing in his room, he heard some noise outside.

He ran to his grandfather and asked, “What’s going on, Grandpa?” He replied, “The villagers are waiting for my signal to start going around the village banging their pots and pans until the moon is left alone.” Jimmy couldn’t believe what he just heard from his grandfather. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He said to himself, “Could Grandpa really believe these tales?”

But he couldn’t stop himself and said, “Tales, myths, legends… how can you believe them? Nothing could ever smother the moon. All what we have to do is wait.”

But Grandpa simply said, “Jimmy, you’re too young for this, dear boy.”

Jimmy shook his head in disbelief.

“Please Grandpa, please don’t do this. Wait and let me prove it to you.” But Grandpa said, “Even if I wait, the villagers won’t.”

Jimmy insisted and said, “Please, just give me a few minutes. Let me get a book from uncle’s library upstairs.”

“

“Oh my goodness,” he cried, “The book isn’t here. Oh! Why don’t you have a book about the moon eclipse, Uncle? What can I do to make them believe me?”

Jimmy went back to his grandfather with a downcast face. His Grandpa said, “Well, since you didn’t find the book, Jimmy, I’ll have to go and give them the signal.”

Jimmy said, “Please, Grandpa, these are just tales. I studied the moon eclipse phenomenon at school.” Jimmy held his grandfather’s hand and said, “L..l..look at the moon!”

Jimmy remembered the observatory on top of the mountain and said, “I’ll show you. Come with me to the observatory, Grandpa. Let’s go.”

A man from the village said, “Where are you going, Mayor? We need to starting banging our pots and pans and setting the moon free!” Jimmy said,“We will be back, don’t tap a thing until we return and the mayor tells you what to do.” The man said, “Ok, but watch out for the wolf.”

In the observatory the astronomer explained, “Earth lies between the sun and the moon, so during a lunar eclipse, the earth blocks some of the sun’s light from reaching the moon.” Grandpa raised his eyebrows so high they almost reached his hat. He said, “Amazing!” The engineer continued, “So what happens is that the sunlight reflects on the moon in red, after is passes through the atmosphere.”

Moon

Shadow

Atmosphere

Earth

Sun

Grandpa said, “I can’t believe it. You mean to tell me that it’s a natural phenomenon and nothing is attacking the moon?” Jimmy asked, “Grandpa, do you finally believe me?”

Jimmy returned to the village with his Grandfather.

Grandpa smiled and said, “I learned about the lunar eclipse and discovered that it’s a natural phenomenon.”

One of the men in the crowd outside took a step forward and said, “If you don’t bang on the pots, I will do it myself. The moon is under attack! We want to help.” Grandpa said, “No, you must believe me. Now I know the truth.”

An old woman said, “We all know that something is attacking the moon and it won’t stop until we scare him away. Only then it will go. We want to bang the pots!”

Grandpa looked at Jimmy and didn’t know what to do.

Jimmy addressed the crowd and said, “Did you hear that? On the way back from the observatory, we met a man that told us that he saw a wolf coming down the mountain. I’m afraid if you bang on the pots, it will know where we are and it may attack us.”

Everyone froze as they listened and cried, “A wolf?!”

And quickly ran home.

Jimmy said, as his face shone in the light of the moon, “Look up at the moon, Grandpa,

it’s back to normal, without a single bang or clang.”

One of the villagers said, “Look at the color of the moon, it’s back to normal without us making a sound.”

The End