Tu Shanshu | Logs

Long ago before there were any people in the world, the First Family was made in the sky. Sun, the Mother and Moon, the Father were happy but desired children of their own. They watched all the creatures in the oceans, on the land and in the air and wished they could also have a family but they could not, for they didn't know how and so they were sad. They drifted apart, with Mother the Sun only coming out for part of the time and Father the Moon sometimes disappearing from the sky.

Not wanting to see them so saddened, the creatures in all the lands and seas and air gathered together and searched their respective domains for children to give into the sky. From the four corners of the world they came with four children: one for the Dawn, one for the Midday, one for the Dusk and one for the Night.

Mother the Sun and Father the Moon were overjoyed! They thanked the creatures of the world and promised they would never again abandon their places in the sky and became the First Family. And for a time, all was well.

But Dawn and Midday and Dusk and Night grew older and, as children are wont to do, started asking when they could leave their home in the sky to begin their own families. Their parents were afraid of feeling so alone again if that happened so each year they said, "next year, next year". Eventually the children grew tired of this answer and so, sneaking into the place of the Stars where everything that was known was kept and they cut the end off of Time.

The next time that their mother and father went to deny then, the children cried "You cannot say next year, for next year does not exist anymore!"

And the Sun and Moon were afraid that if the children went away, then Time would indeed run out and so they agreed that their children could have families of their own, if they stayed and became the Second Family. The children agreed and even today, it is said that they are still waiting for the end of Time to grow back so they can visit other places without everything ending.