Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky

Long ago the sun and the water were the best of friends, and both of them lived down here on the earth. The sun often went to visit the water, but the water never came to visit the sun.

At last the sun asked, “Why do you never come to my house?”

“Your house is too small,” said the water. “If I came with all my people, there would be no room left for you. If you really want me to visit, you must build a very big compound. It will have to be enormous, because my people are many and they take up a great deal of space.”

The sun promised to build the biggest compound anyone had ever seen. He went home to his wife, the moon, who met him at the door with a wide smile, and he told her what he had promised. The very next day he started building, and he worked until the compound was finished, with walls stretching far in every direction.

Then he invited the water to come the following day.

When the water arrived at the gate, he called out, “Is it safe for me to come in?”

“Yes, come in, my friend,” said the sun.

So the water began to flow in, and with him came the fish and every other creature that lives in the water. Soon the water was knee-deep in the compound. “Is it still safe?” he asked. “Yes,” said the sun, and more water poured in.

When the water was as high as a tall man’s head, he asked again, “Do you want more of my people to come in?” The sun and the moon did not know any better, and they both said yes. So the water kept on flowing, higher and higher, until the sun and the moon had to climb up and sit on the very top of the roof.

Once more the water asked, and once more they said yes. More and more of his people rushed in, and the water rose right over the roof. There was nowhere left for the sun and the moon to sit, so they had to go up into the sky. And there they have stayed ever since.

Where this story comes from

This “why” story comes from the Efik and Ibibio peoples of the Calabar region in south-eastern Nigeria. It was written down in English by Elphinstone Dayrell, a British district officer, in Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa (1910), with an introduction by Andrew Lang.

In Dayrell’s telling the sun’s friend is the water, not the moon: the moon is the sun’s wife. The story explains why the sun and moon live high above us, and it also shows a host too polite, or too proud, to admit that he has run out of room.

Read the original: Elphinstone Dayrell, Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 6–8 — a short, funny “why” story about hospitality that goes too far.

Permission can be reconsidered

Water warns Sun before the visit and asks again as the compound fills. Sun keeps giving the same answer although the situation has changed. The rising water makes the repetition increasingly uncomfortable: politeness becomes a refusal to acknowledge what everyone can see.

Change one reply

At the moment the water reaches the hosts’ heads, give Sun a truthful reply that welcomes the visitors but names the limit. What could Water do next? Compare that possible ending with the hosts’ retreat into the sky.

Talk about it

• Why did the water never visit the sun at first?
• Why do you think the sun kept saying “yes” even when the water was getting so high?
• Can you think of another story that explains something in the sky?

Related stories

• Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light from the Sun — another Nigerian sky story from Dayrell
• Why the Lizard Continually Moves His Head Up and Down — a Dayrell “why” tale
• The Story of a Dam — an African tale about water and sharing