Hou Yi (后羿) was a great archer(射手) and architect(建筑家), who shot down nine extra(多余的) suns that had suddenly appeared in the sky and thus(因此) kept the earth from being scorched(烤焦). He also built a palace of jade(翡翠) for the Goddess of the Western Heaven(西王母). For this, he was rewarded with a pill containing the elixir(长生不老药) of immortality(不朽), but with strings attached--he must fast(斋戒) and pray for a year before taking it. His wife, Chang E (嫦娥), whose beauty was surpassed(超过) only by her curiosity, discovered and swallowed(吞) the pill and in no time soared(高飞) to the moon and became a permanent(永久) resident(居民) there. Upon reaching the moon, Chang E, in dismay(沮丧), coughed up the pill, which turned into a jade rabbit that, day and night, pounds out a celestial(天上的) elixir for the immortals.
Another permanent lunar resident of Chinese origin(出身) is Wu Kang (吴刚), a shiftless(偷懒的) fellow who changed apprenticeships(学徒年限) all the time before disappointing(使失望) his last master, who was an immortal. From him Wu learned to be immortal himself, but he was punished(惩罚) by being required to chop(砍) down a cassia(肉桂) tree in the moon, an impossible mission. The cut in the tree heals(痊愈) completely the same day, so Wu Kang is still chopping away for eternity(永远). Some Chinese crave(渴求) to drink his cassia blossom wine(桂花酒).
The Chinese believe that the moon is at its largest and brightest, and Chang E at her most beautiful, on the 15th night of the eighth lunar(阴历) month. They are at least half-right, for at that time most of China is in the dry season and the moon looms brightest. It's also cool then, a perfect time to celebrate the harvest which has just concluded; hence(因此), the Mid-Autumn Festival is also called the Harvest Festival. The festival is a time for family reunions(团聚) to appreciate the moon (赏月) and eat moon cakes together. Bathed in bright moonshine and with the company(陪伴) of chrysanthemum(菊花) and cassia blossoms, poets(诗人) eat crab meat(蟹肉) and moon cake, drink tea and wine, and versify the night away.
