Prague Tales from the Little Quarter

There was morning and then evening - the first day. It is evening, and the setting of our story is just like that in the old Russian folksong: "The moon's in the sky and moonlight in the hut." The full moon sails across the sky, so luminous and bright that the surrounding stars seem to have vanished, only to timidly reappear when they are a world away. The moon proudly spreads its luminous raiment over the ground, sheathing the earth below in its light, blanketing the water of brooks and the foliage of banks, gliding across the broad countryside and the sprawling town. It heaves its cloak through city streets and squares, whatever it come upon, and if it spies an open window anywher, it tosses the tip of its garment Inside.