Bakunawa the Dragon and the Seven Moons
A story from the Philippines
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Story
A deity called Bathala creates seven moons to light up the night sky and the people are happy. But the dragon Bakunawa, with his horned nose and looped tail, doesn’t want to share the light of the moons, so each night he flies up and eats one. Eventually there is only one moon left. Bakunawa bites it and the sky goes black, and the people shout for him to return their moon. Bakunawa is so scared of the noise that he spits it out and flies away. When the people realise that Bakunawa fears noise, they get pot and pans and instruments and make noises to scare him away each time he appears. And this continues to this day whenever there is a lunar eclipse.
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Why we chose it
A great story about an unfamiliar night sky and a very hungry dragon.