Liber Lunae - Chapter 18

Verses

Verse 27

In the salt desert a jinn found the Moon caught in a brass cup and covered the cup with his palm.

Verse 28

He said, Silver Traveler, I have imprisoned you. The Moon answered from the sky, Then who is that above your head?

Verse 29

The jinn looked up and lost the first bargain.

Verse 30

He filled seven mirrors with her face and said, Now I own seven Moons. She answered, Break one. The jinn broke it and gained seven hundred.

Verse 31

He lost the second bargain.

Verse 32

At midnight he offered her incense, blue glass, a dead king's ring, and the secret name of a well.

Verse 33

The Moon asked only for the well's location.

Verse 34

Why? said the jinn. You command tides and cross the heavens.

Verse 35

I command nothing, said the Moon. But travelers below me become thirsty.

Verse 36

So he led her light to the buried well, and a caravan found it before dawn.

Verse 37

The merchants thanked God, chance, their camels, their map, and finally one another. Nobody thanked the jinn.

Verse 38

He cursed the Moon for making virtue anonymous.

Verse 39

The Moon said, Would you prefer a statue?

Verse 40

The jinn considered this for forty years.

Verse 41

At last he asked for one small statue, tasteful, no larger than a cat.

Verse 42

The Moon laughed so brightly that the dunes turned white.

Verse 43

Thus he lost the third bargain and kept the laughter.