Back in the days before the days, the sun and the moon were always
in the sky. There was no nighttime, and there was no daytime. The
sun and moon were quite content in the sky together.
After a while, the animals called to the sun and the moon and asked
them to come listen for a moment. The Moon came swooping down and
was followed by the sun.
"We do not know when to start sleeping," said the elephant to the
moon, "because you are always so full in the sky."
"And we do not know when to wake," said the zebra to the sun,
"because you are always out and never rising."
All but the sleepy-headed dulfly were there to complain. The
sleepy-headed dulfly looked like a firefly, but he did not glow in
anyway like you are used to. His body was dark and dull and all
together boring.
The sun, because he was always a little brighter than the moon,
thought hard about what to do. "I will stay in the sky half of the
time," said the sun," and the moon will stay in the sky when I am
not so that you may know when to sleep. But one of you will have to
signal when it is time for us to switch, for that is how these
things are done, and otherwise we will not know."
"It cannot be me," said the lion, "I am far too busy tending to the
plains."
"It cannot be me," said the monkey, "I am far too busy picking fruit
from the trees."
One by one, all the animals explained why they could not possibly be
the one to help the moon and the sun. One by one, until only the
sleepy-headed dulfly remained.
"Wake up dulfly!" yelled the sun.
"Why do you bother me?" asked the sleepy-headed dulfly.
The sun replied, "My friend the moon and I must part ways, and this
makes me sad. But it is the only way that the animals can sleep
well. So once a day you will signal me to rise, and the moon will
know that it is time to fall, and we will call it dawn. And once
more you signal the moon to rise, and I will know that it is time
for me to set, and we will call it dusk."
"I couldn't possibly! " said the sleepy-headed dulfly, " How could I
signal someone as large as you, when I am so small. You will not be
able to see me!"
The sun breathed in slowly and then sent a burst of light right into
the dulfly's behind where it stayed glowing brightly.
"Owwwwwww!" screamed the sleepy-headed dulfly who was now very
frightened of the sun.
The sun commanded him in a loud voice, "You will fly around and
flash the light in your behind at dusk and dawn, and the moon and I
will know that it is time to switch. The rest of the time you may
sleep."
Ever since that day, the sleepy-headed dulfly has been known as the
firefly, and the sun and the moon have risen and set without fail
because he does his job well.
And so, if you are outside at dawn or dusk and you happen to catch a
firefly, you must be sure to let him go because even though he is
small, it is he who decides when the sun rises and sets.
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