The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 22nd this year. Tim Chan, a student from Hong Kong, was talking with his friend, Jimmy, a Canadian student. Tim had invited Jimmy to his house to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
      "Look, Jimmy. See how beautiful the moon is! Dad and Mom have told me many stories about the moon."
      "Well," Jimmy said, "We also have stories about the moon. There was a moon goddess called Diana in ancient Roman times. She was worshipped especially by women in those days."
      "We have a story about a goddess too. She is called Chang-O. She was a fairy, the niece of the Heavenly King. She was married to the great archer Yi who lived on earth. They lived happily together. One day, the sky was suddenly ablaze with blinding lights. The ten sun-children of the Heavenly King had all come out to the sky at once, when they should take turns to go across the sky one at a time. The earth was burned, the cattle were parched, the crops were scorched, and the streams dried up. People asked Yi to deal with the wayward sun-children. He chased them round the sky, and shot them down one after another with his mighty arrows, until one was left. It took him a long time.
      Meanwhile, Chang-O was worried, and missed her home in heaven. At last when Yi returned, Chang-O told him she wanted to go back to heaven. Yi was not happy. He tried to persuade Chang-O to stay on earth; he promised to get her the elixir of life so that she would be a beautiful woman forever. He went to the Heavenly Queen and begged her to give him the elixir. She agreed, and gave him two doses. "One dose will give you eternal life and youth; a second dose will enable you to fly up to the sky. Each one of you will need only one dose." Yi went home. Tired by his arduous hunt, he slept like a log. Chang-O took the elixir. One dose, and she can stay with her husband on earth forever; two doses, and she will fly up the sky. She took two doses.
      She found herself floating upward, until she reached the palace of the Heavenly King. However, the King was not pleased at all, because she had not stayed on earth as she promised. He banished her to the moon, and there she lived, and has lived ever since, alone."
      "It's a rather sad story, isn't it?" Jimmy said after a while. Tim replied, "Yes, the legend is sad, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is not sad at all. Traditionally, it is a harvest festival and a time for the family to get together. The full moon symbolizes completeness and union. We celebrate the festival with special food and fruits, like moon-cake, taro, persimmon, star fruit, and water chestnut. In Hong Kong, our family would go to the top of a hill or to a park, sit on a mattress, look at the moon, tell stories and enjoy the food. Children would light lanterns of different shapes and sizes. When a large number of lanterns were lit up, it was as if a galaxy of stars had come down on earth."
      "I wish I could see that. Yes. Come on, show me your lantern and some of your special food!" And off they went into Tim's house, the full moon looking on.

      Language Notes 語文註解：
      Worshipped  崇拜
      Chang-O       嫦娥
      Archer           弓箭手
      Yi                  羿
      Ablaze           火
      Blinding        十分耀眼
      Parched        干渴
      Scorched      燙焦
      Wayward      任性
      Elixir of life 長生不老藥
      Dose劑
      Arduous辛苦
      Banished驅逐
      Symbolizes象征
      Completeness union美滿
      Taro團圓
      Persimmon芋頭
      Star fruit柿子
      Water chestnut菱
      Galaxy星系