A long, long time ago, during the Stone Age when the mammoths existed, the Moon already shone in the sky. He slept during the day, hidden by the clouds, and then shone down on Earth at night — exactly as he does today. However, he wasn't as nice and yellow as we see him today, instead he was pale and cheesy.

In those days, the Moon often felt cold. He shivered and his teeth chattered, even though a little angel once knitted him a long white scarf and thick socks.

One day, the Moon caught a cold. He sneezed and coughed so loudly that you could even hear it down on Earth. Humans were frightened because they didn't know that the Moon had the sniffles. The stars looked down at the Earth in concern.

'It can't continue like this!' they muttered to each other.

Together with the Moon, they thought long and hard about what they could do. An old, wise star finally suggested they ask the Sun for advice.

The very next day, the Moon got up two hours earlier than usual in order to meet the Sun before she set. The Sun was delighted over the Moon's visit. She was a nice, fat, older lady who laughed a lot and chatted away. She told the Moon all about what she had seen on Earth. The Moon noticed a warm, pleasant feeling washing over him. He began to glow brighter and brighter with warmth. He had never realised how lonely and empty he had felt up until then.

'Of course!' he thought. 'The stars always appear in the sky together, the fluffy clouds always blow across the land in groups, and even the Wind often meets with the Storm for coffee.'

Since then, every now and then, you see the Moon having a cosy little chat with the Sun in the late afternoon sky.

_{Sent in by B. Piegendorfer, Kumhausen}