For the second half of the Khasi Folktales unit it primarily
contained stories that attempted to describe natural phenomena. During older
times people would create myths to describe what they see around them; why
thunder occurs, why the waterfalls are so loud, or how the dog came to be at
the service of man. These three were exemplified in the stories within this
unit amongst several others. The second half of the unit had several stories
that really grabbed my attention. In particular I really liked What Caused the Shadows on the Moon. The
story detailed the lives of a mother and her four children; Water, Fire, Moon,
and Sun. Moon and Sun were equally beautiful and bright but Moon disregarded
the advice of his mother. He did what he wanted and when he wanted. At one
point he left home and did not return for a great deal of time (this explains
why there are lunar eclipses). When he finally returned home he had forgotten
that the Sun was his sister. He was so blown away by her beauty that he asked
their mother for permission to marry her. The mother was so disgusted she sent
the Moon away, once the Sun heard about this she burned the face of Moon out of
anger. This is why the moon is so pale and has dark crevices according to the
Khasi. In today’s society stories like this don’t hold up due to the scientific
advances we have made. However, I personally love reading stories like this
because it shows the thirst for knowledge the people of past generations had.
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