La Luna sorrideva contenta

La Luna sorrideva contenta.
Andava intorno alla Terra e non le girava la testa.
A volte si incontrava con il Sole e sorrideva anche a lui.
Per alcuni minuti gli copriva la faccia rotonda, giocando a nascondino.
Poi si spostava e sorridevano di nuovo tutti e due.

Un giorno gli uomini vennero a farle visita.
Camminarono piano sopra di lei, che stette ferma per non farli cadere.
Quando ripartirono, le rimasero le impronte.

La Luna, girando nell’universo, vedeva degli strani oggetti.
Erano cose degli uomini e non ci badava.
Improvvisa la caduta: l’impatto sul suolo lunare di un pezzo di razzo.
Non capiva perché era stato lasciato cadere.
La polvere le pizzicò il naso e la fece starnutire.
La Luna rimase stupita: si fidava dell’uomo.
Ma poi si dimenticò e andò avanti.

E ogni notte posava la sua luce sulle finestre, per far sognare chi dormiva.

La Luna sorrideva contenta.
Andava intorno alla Terra e non le girava la testa.

The Moon was smiling happily.
Round and round the Earth she went, and it never made her head spin.
Sometimes she met the Sun and smiled at him too.
For a few minutes she would cover his round face, playing hide-and-seek.
Then she moved aside, and they both smiled again.

One day people came to visit her.
They walked softly upon her, and she kept still so they would not fall.
When they left, their footprints remained with her.

Turning through the universe, the Moon kept seeing strange objects.
They were things belonging to people, and she took no notice of them.
A sudden fall: the impact of a piece of rocket on the lunar surface.
She did not understand why it had been let fall.
The dust tickled her nose and made her sneeze.
The Moon was astonished: she trusted humankind.
But then she forgot about it and carried on.

And every night she laid her light upon the windows, to make the sleepers dream.

The Moon was smiling happily.
Round and round the Earth she went, and it never made her head spin.