f the wise man
and his family, the chief engineer sent down word to the king that he
was ready to take the moon down.

"It is well," replied the king from below. "I will ascend, that I may
see how you set about it."

Within twenty days the king reached the summit of the tower, and,
standing at last by the side of the engineer, he laid his hand upon the
moon, and it felt exceedingly hot. Then he commanded the engineer to
proceed to take it down. The man put a number of cool bark coils over
his shoulder and tried to dislodge it; but, as it was firmly fixed, he
used such a deal of force that he cracked it, and there was an
explosion, the fire and sparks from which scorched him. The timber on
which the king and his chiefs were standing began to burn, and many more
bursting sounds were heard, and fire and melted rock ran down through
the scaffolding in a steady stream, until all the woodwork was ablaze,
and the flames soared upward among the uprights and trestles of the wood
in one vast pile of fire; and every man, woman, and child was utterly
consumed in a moment. And the heat was so great that it affected the
moon, and a large portion of it tumbled to the earth, and its glowing
hot materials ran over the ground like a great river of fire, so that
most of the country of the Bandimba was burnt to ashes. On those who
were not smothered by the smoke, nor burnt by the fire, and who fled
from before the burning river, the effect was very wonderful. Such of
them as were grown up, male and female, were converted into gorillas,
and all the children into different kinds of long-tailed monkeys.

The old man who told me this story ended by saying to us, who listened
with open mouth to his words:

"Friends, if you doubt the truth of what I have said, all you have to do
is to look at the moon when it is full, and you may then see on a clear
night a curious dark portion on its face, which often appears as though
there were peaky mountains in it, and often the dark spots are like some
kind of homed animals; and then again, you will often fancy that on the
moon you see the outlines of a man's face, but those dark spots are only
the holes made in the moon by the man who forced his shoulders through
it. By this you will know that I have not lied unto you. Now ever
since that dreadful day when the moon burst and the Bandimba country was
consumed, parents are not in the habit of granting children all they ask
for, but only such th