The Sun, the Moon, and the Bat

      

       According to a story from Africa, a long time ago the sun and the bat were good friends. they were seen together all the time. They shared their dreams as well as their problems.One day, the moon and the sun began talking about who was stronger. The moon said she was stronger. The sun did not agree with her. They argued, "I am stronger," "No, I am stronger" " No, I am," and so on. Finally, they decided to have a contest.

       After a couple of days, they planned to meet at the lake to see who could throw a rock the farthest across the lake. A lot of animals came from all over the world to the lake to watch the contest. They came early because they knew that the contest could start at any time. The moon arrived at the lake first. She wanted to win, so she practiced before the sun arrived. She picked up rocks one at a time and threw them. Each time, the rocks went farther and farther. By the time the sun finally arrived at the lake, the moon was sure she could win.

       The moon chose a rock and threw it. It landed near the side of the lake. The sun chose a bigger rock and threw it. Near the middle of the lake, the sun's rock began to fall toward the water, but all of a sudden it began to go up again! The sun's rock went all the way to the other side of the lake. It seemed that the sun had won the contest after all. However, nobody knew that the bat was carrying the rock!

       When the bat was sure that no one could see him, he stopped to rest between a pair of banana trees. His wings were tired. It was difficult carrying the heavy rock, but he was happy to help the sun. " that's what friends are for," thought the bat. Many years later, the bat's mother died. Above all, the bat wanted this mother to have a nice grave. The bat worked all day, but he was not finished by the time the sun began to go down. The bat asked for a favor from the sun, " Can you stay up until I finish my mother's grave?" The sun refused . Again and again, the bat begged, but the sun said it was time for him to go down.The bat was very angry. The sun did not help him even though he had helped the sun.

       When the moon came up, she saw the bat still working hard on his mother's grave. The moon gave the bat enough light to finish his work. As a result, the bat and the moon became good friends. That's why today you will never see the bat near the sun. He is always with his friend, the moon.

From: Illustrated Everyday Expressions with stories by Casey Malarcher