The Young Baboon Who Loved the Moon

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 255, 24 July 1937, Page 9 (Supplement)

The Young Baboon Who Loved the Moon

QNCE upon a time there was a young baboon who loved the moon. One night when the young baboon and the other jungle folk were coming home from the animal fair the moon was flooding the jungle with light all misty, silvery blue. At the fair the jungle children had run and swu n g, chattered and sung, and played with big bright blossoms. Still, all through the fun Little Baboon had not forgotten how much she loved the moon. So on the way home she sang this song:

“I went to the animal fair, The birds and the beasts were there. A jyoung baboon in the light of the moon Was combing her auburn hair. The monkey took a jump And slid down the elephant’s trunk. Hurray, hurray, tra-la, tra-lay Tra-la, la-la, la-lay!” Then Little Baboon said to her mother, “Mummy Baboon, I want the moon. I want it to catch and play with and maybe to taste!” She thought the moon far prettier than the bright blossoms at the fair. She supposed that it must be delicious to taste, hanging like a great apple of pale gold just over the treetops. Surely it would have beautiful big black seeds like the seeds of the jungle fruit that little baboons eat. • But Muhnny Baboon said, “No, no, Little Baboon, you cannot catch or play with or taste the moon, for nobody has ever caught the moon! You have coconut balls to play with, and bright blossoms to smell. You may have the sweet seeds of jungle fruits to eat, but nobody yet, Little Baboon, has ever caught the moon!”

But Little Baboon cried, “I don't want balls, and I don't want flowers, and I don’t want jungle fruits —I want the moon! I shall catch the moon!” Mummy Baboon shook her head at such boasting. “To-night the moon is already too high in the sky,” said Little Baboon, “but to-morrow night I shall catch it” So the next night when the moon was just rising over the forest, the young baboon started out. “The moon seems to be over there just a little way,” thought Little Baboon. She went leaping and swing joyfully along from rock to rock. Sometimes she caught hold of a low branch and looked laughingly at the moon upside down.

All the time she sang to herself, “I shall catch you, moon. I shall catch you, moon!” ”

But when Little Baboon paused in her chase to catch the moon, which by now should be very near, it was still 'way beyond the forest, as far away as ever and already high in the sky.

“Oh!” said the young baboon. “O-o-oh! Now I cannot catch the moon

So,the next night the young baboon went”’way back into the jungle, farther than she had ever been before. High up in a treetop she sat and waited for the moon to rise.

First there w r as a lightness and a shining in the sky, then there was a brightness like a silver spoon. Then up rose the moon like a great golden balloon drifting into the sky. At last it rested right on the high top of a kolanut tree.

“It’s caught, it’s caught in the kolanut tree!” shouted Little Baboon in glee. “If I hurry this time I shall surely catch the moon.” So Little Baboon hurried, leaping and swinging along the trail. This time she did not stop to laugh at the moon upside down, because she was in too much of a hurry to reach the kola-nut tree. But she laughed all the way, right side up, and sang, “I shall cateh you, moon. I shall catch you, moon!” When at last she reached the very tree that she had seen the moon caught on and climbed to cateh it—there was the moon again, away over there, riding high in the sky and far away. “O-oh,” cried poor Little Baboon. “O-o-oh, shall I never catch the moon?” And again she went slowly home.

Mummy Baboon said, “Do not tire yourself out with chasing the moon, little one, for nobody has ever caught the moon! Go out by the shining lake with the other jungle children and be content to play in the moon’s light as they are ” The other jungle children heard and they laughed loudly. “Ha-ha-ha ! Ha-ha-ha! She chases the moon! Balls and coconuts are to catch, but not the moon!”

The next night Little Baboon went with the other jungle children down to the shining lake. The little elephants blew silvery streams of water from their trunks. And the big elephants let all the little baboons slide down theirlong, strong trunks, like children sliding at: a playgorund. (To be concluded.)