The moon lived up in the sky.
At night it was cold.
She had no dress at all.
One night she passed a tailor shop.
A small lamp was burning inside.
Inside, the tailor kept a wooden board.
On the board lay scissors and thread.
A small sign hung on the door.
The sign said: dresses made here.
The tailor was bent over his cloth.
He could make dresses.
He looked up and saw the moon.
He took her size.
He measured her shoulders.
He measured her waist.
Three days, and then three days more.
That is how the tailor measured his year.
He said: come back in three days.
In three days the moon came back.
She was a little rounder.
The dress was too tight.
It pulled across her shoulders.
The tailor said: never mind, I will measure again.
He said: come back in three more days.
Three more days passed.
The moon was rounder still.
The dress was too small.
The tailor said: this is not easy.
He said: I will make a bigger one.
Three days later, the moon came back.
She had grown thin.
Now the dress was too big.
The empty sleeves filled with wind.
The moon wanted a warm dress.
The tailor said: my cloth is only white.
The moon said: white is fine.
Nobody knows where the white cloth came from.
The tailor said it came from the clouds.
The tailor laughed a little.
He put down his measuring tape.
He said: now I understand.
He said: you change every night.
He said: one dress can never be enough.
The moon asked: so what should we do?
The tailor said: do not worry.
He said: come each day. I will measure each day.
After that, the tailor stopped worrying.
Each day he measured once.
Each day he cut a little cloth.
He kept the scraps in a basket.
The basket was almost full.
Some days he cut a little more.
Some days he cut a little less.
Some nights she was a thin thread of light.
Some nights she was a full round plate.
Some nights only half of her showed.
So the moon is round some nights.
And thin on other nights.
People look up and say: she is trying on a new dress.
The tailor never finished the dress.
He never had to.
Sometimes she pulls a cloud over her shoulders.
Sometimes she pushes the cloud away.
Then she shows her whole face.
Sometimes she shows only a thin curved edge.
It looks like a slow smile in the dark.
She kept one thin cloud for later.
She would need it near morning.
The night grew late.
The night air was cool and clean.
It smelled of rain.
The lane was empty.
The tailor went to sleep.
His small lamp went out too.
The moon walked on, very slowly.
She went from one window to the next.
The courtyards were still.
The gates were shut.
Inside, the children were already asleep.
One child dreamed of a white dress.
One child dreamed of a round white plate.
Then she saw one light still on.
A child was still awake in there.
So the moon laid a little light on the sill.
After a while, that light went out too.
The moon nodded, the way a friend nods.
The moon kept walking.
She walked along the tiles of the roof.
She walked along the wet stones of the road.
She passed the school and the well.
She walked over the river.
A second moon was walking in the river too.
Two moons, one behind the other.
Twice she looked back at the tailor shop.
The light there was out.
One waited, and then the other caught up.
They went slowly toward the morning.
The river carried its moon along.
The little moon went where she went.
The moon was sleepy now.
She set her last light on the lowest window.
A small child was sleeping there.
In China, people still say the moon changes shape because she keeps trying on new dresses.
That is the old story of The Moon’s New Dress.
This is an old Chinese folktale.
It is a gentle Chinese fairy tale, and one of the oldest Chinese bedtime stories for children.
Now it is time to close your eyes.
Good night, moon.
Good night, sleeping child.
This is a very old Chinese bedtime story. It is not long, and it is very gentle. Best read slowly, with the lights low.
