takes the eternal life pill home, hides it in the rafters and continues his services in distant lands.
One day during his absence, his wife Sheung Ngor is attracted by the glow from the hiding place and finds the tiny white pill. Fascinated by the luminous glow and held spellbound by the delicate fragrance of the candy-like pill, she daintily tastes it and in her excitement swallows it. In an instant, a lightness comes over her and she floats off drawn by a heavenly force through the clouds to the Moon. Upon her arrival at the Crystal Cold Palace of the Moon, she is transformed into the Moon Goddess, the legendary ruler of the satellite of snow white coolness. At the palace, she pines for her husband as she sits in her garden by the cassia tree, a little white hare by her side, forever at work, pounding in a jade mortar ingredients for the Elixir of Immortality.
The legend continues . . . That Hou Ngai also sighs for the presence of his beloved. One evening while he rests by the roadside a group of happy fairies dance by. They stop when they note his sad countenance and listens to his tale of woe. After putting their heads together the fairy queen instructs the archer to make obeisance and pray to the Moon and soon his wish that Sheung Ngor return to him would be granted even if only in a dream on the 15th day of the 8th moon.
Hou Ngai hurried home. As the women of his village learn of his desire, they prepare the outdoor altar with 13 moon cakes which represent the number of months in a complete Chinese lunar year. Candles and incense sticks are placed on the altar together with five plates filled each with melons, pomegranates, grapes, apples and peaches. The fruits have a specific meaning this night. Melons and pomegranates have many seeds, alluding to the great number of children the family would like to have. Apples and grapes symbolize fertility and peaches longevity. Thus the greatest hopes of the Chinese family are depicted on the altar during this festival. Women of the village gather in front of the altar and bow in honor of the Moon. Then Hou Ngai steps forth and makes his (Continued on Page 23)
LAWRENCE D. WASEU O.D.
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