Once upon a time, on a hill called Sunny Hill, there lived a wise old owl named Bella. One evening, as the sun set and the stars began to twinkle, Bella thought, “What if all my friends could sing together?”
So Bella cleared her throat and said loudly, “Hey, friends! Listen to me! Tonight, I want to give a big concert that will be heard everywhere in the world! All of you must come and sing with me.”
A little rabbit, whose nose was like a pink pencil, replied, “What kind of music should we sing?”
“I should say you must not ask what kind of music we shall sing,” said Bella. “All I want is that you should sing together, all of you, as loud as ever you can.”
The little rabbit was much pleased at this idea, and threw herself back and kicked her legs with delight as she shouted, “That will be fun! That will be amusing indeed!”
WC, the badger, heard what was said and came lolloping up, and the hen — the hen with the golden legs, who is always to be met with in stories — wouldn’t miss the concert for anything, and so she ran up too.
“Will you sing?” said Bella, “or will you only clap your wings.”
“Oh, I will sing! I will sing!” said her ladyship.
“I will sing with pleasure!” growled the badger.
“Then come to me at two o’clock in the middle of the night,” said Bella, “and sing as loud as you can. Sing where you are; no one must come to me. Sing, and do not be afraid of the cold.”
So Bella left them. When it was two o’clock all the animals came and surrounded Bella quite snugly, so that no cold air could get to them. And then they all squealed and sang and howled and strutted with as much power as they could muster, for they wished to make the concert successful, and so render to their friend Bella the greatest kindness. And the beautiful moon listened to the music; and the little stars twinkled in approval.
“You will soon make us fall asleep,” the little stars seemed to say to each other. Even the moon’s head began to nod.
And from that time the moon made it a rule to sleep every night during the concert. And as the moon sleeps whenever the animals are given a concert, perhaps the stars do the same.
We do not know it for certain; but we do know that they shine less brightly on those nights than they shine on the other nights.