Once upon a time in the sky, the Great Bear fell in love with the Moon.
For ages he had wheeled around the North Sky with his friends, the Dragon and the Cameleopard. The light of his life was Little Bear, his grandson. Each night they danced around The-Star-That-Does-Not-Move, and when Little Bear fell asleep, the Great Bear kept awake until dawn, pondering Weighty Matters.
One night the Moon rode high in the sky, and shone exceeding bright. The Bear was dazzled by her silvery beams. Roused from his meditations, he followed her progress through the sky until she sank from view.
The next night the Moon came again, though she was not so bright, and she rode a little further off. The Bear was delighted to watch her swift course, and his stars pulsed happily. He twirled Little Bear around The-Star-That-Does-Not-Move until they were both giddy.
Then one night the Moon failed to make her journey through the sky. The Bear scanned the heavens for her pale fire, and slowed his peregrinations until his friend Draco stepped upon his tail.
"Keep on, keep on," complained the Dragon, who had become very grumpy since he gave up smoking.
"Excuse me, Draco," said the Bear, "but I was waiting to see the Moon. Where can she be?"
"How should I know?" said Draco. "Talk to the Lady in the Chair. She claims to know everything."
The Bear called across to Cassiopeia. "Excuse me, have you seen the bright Moon?"
"She's such an inconstant creature", replied the old one, "don't waste your energy on her."
But a new Feeling had come into the Bear's life, and he was determined to know more. So the next night he set out across the heavens, while Cassiopeia rocked the Little Bear to sleep.
He sought first his old friend Bootes, the Herdsman, who had followed him for thousands of years. "My friend," said the Bear, "I am searching for the bright Moon. Do you know where she might be?"
"Is it Love?" asked Bootes, and sighed mightily. The Herdsman had been in love, forever it seemed, with Virgo the Harvest Maiden, but had never moved closer to her.
The Bear replied, "what is Love?" (for he was, after all, a Peripatetic Bear). Besides, in the presence of his sad friend he felt diffident, and reluctant to indulge his feelings. "In truth," he added, "I do not know what I feel, for I hardly know her."
"Remember," said Bootes, "that he who increaseth knowledge, increaseth suffering." The Bear growled at this homily. Bootes added quickly, "If you are determined, then keep on South, to the plane of the ecliptic. That is where I have often seen the Moon travelling. But beware the Hunter and his Dogs!"
The Bear coasted South, past bright Arcturus, until he came to the Scales. "O wise Libra," he said, "tell me rightly, where might I find the silvery Moon?"
"In my judgment," replied Libra, "you should not permit yourself this latitude. The heavens must be in balance, and so you must return to your place in the sky at once."
The Great Bear replied firmly, "I thank you for your good advice, but Feelings must sometimes temper Judgment." Bowing politely, the Bear continued on. So intent was he on his Feelings that he did not reckon his direction, until the he heard the baying of the Great Dog and the Little Dog. Hard behind them he saw Orion the Hunter.
The Great Bear stood up straight and assumed his fighting stance. But Orion only laughed. "Do not be afraid, my friend. Here in the sky I no longer hunt as I did of old. But you, I see, are on a hunt of your own."
"Yes," replied the Bear, "I am searching for an elusive creature, the Moon which once was bright and now is vanished from the sky."
Said Orion, "the way to find a shy creature is not to follow it. I myself do not hunt the doe. I wait quietly in the clearing, and if I am patient, she comes to me, and turns her soft cheek into my hand."
"Orion, what you say is strange to me. I do not hunt, but only seek to Know and Love."
"Perhaps they come to the same thing in the end," replied the Hunter. He whistled for his dogs. "Now I must be moving on, and it is time for you, my friend, to be returning home. The night is almost spent."
Pondering Orion's words, the Bear began his return journey. Carefully he avoided entanglements in the murky realm of Scorpio, and moved quickly past the arrows of Sagittarius. Finally he came to the sign of Aquarius in the hour before dawn.
"Ho, my friend!" said the Water Carrier in a cheery tone. "Why are you mooning about, so far from home?"
"I have been tracking a fond Dream," sighed the Bear, "but now am returning home. Perhaps it is best that I never found what I was looking for."
"Well," replied Aquarius, "chasing dreams is hard work." So saying, he dipped his jug into the Milky Way, and offered it to the Bear. "Here is a gift to refresh your spirits," he said, and poured a glistening stream upon the Bear's shoulders. The water cascaded through his silver fur, and flowed into the sea, carrying with it a glimmer of the shining stars. In the sea, the light rippled over the curling waves, and the Bear heard a faint sigh. Where the sea meets the sky, the Bear found a thin pale Moon, and comforted her in his great arms.
"O Moon, come back with me to the Northern Sky," spoke the Bear in his deep voice. "My strength can shelter you, and your silvery smile will keep my blue heart burning bright and true."
"Dear Bear," she replied, "you are kind and true, but I must continue my own way. It is my practice to wax and wane, sometimes to be queen of the night, and sometimes to be as helpless as a candle tossed by the sea. Besides, I have my duties towards mankind, for I must draw the tides and aid the planted crops."
She smiled, and her crescent grew brighter. "You also have your place, high in the sky with your friends, where all the travellers depend on you."
Her words sailed on pale beams and touched the bright star at his heart. He growled softly, but spoke not a word, and soon ascended back to his home and his friends in the Northern Sky.
The Moon continued her independent way, growing in her spirits as the nights passed, then declining again. Whenever she roamed through the Northern Sky she glowed a little brighter, and the Bear set all his stars glowing bright, in a loving greeting.
Of course all this happened many ages ago, and in our time we see the heavenly bodies move only in their charted courses, night after night. But even now, they say, when clouds hide the sky, the Great Bear sometimes steps out to visit the Moon. Together they dance across the heavens, until the sun rises over the sea.