Legend of the Moon Pie - Page 2
© Virginia Marin
A little farther down the road, he met a cat who had lost its mittens. The poor cat, between licking frostbitten paws, implored the stranger for his gloves. Plumion took pity on the half-frozen cat and placed his mousquetaires on its freezing front paws. The cat was very thankful, but had nothing with which to repay the woodsman. He picked up a handful of pure white snow, rolled it into a sphere and gave it to Plumion, who dropped it into his deepest pocket with the crumbs.
Some distance along and around a bend, Plumion came upon a bird entangled in a berry bush. He freed the bird and received in thanks a scoop of sweet brown snow-berries which she had gathered for her babies. He dropped the berries into his deepest pocket with his other two considerations.
Not far from the berry bush, Plumion came upon a black mongrel dog sitting on a snowbank by the side of the road. The dog asked the man for a morsel of food and his hat to stave off the cold.
It was now dark and the moon had risen, but the poor woodsman placed his hat on the dog's head. He then began going through his pockets in hopes of finding something to give to the poor hungry dog.
Feeling something flat and circular in his deepest pocket, he pulled out and saw in the moonlight a large perfectly round, brown, cookie-like edible. The crumbs, the snow, the brown berries and the moonlight had combined with compassion to form what we know today as--a Moon Pie.
Plumion gave the treat to the dog who left not a crumb. Placing his cold hands into his pocket, Plumion felt another cookie and left it with the thankful dog.
Then another came, which he enjoyed.
Well, to Plumion's surprise, the round chocolate cookies continued to come from his pocket! A gift from the moon, the wind seemed to whisper to him. The poor woodsman took sight of his new opportunity.
The next day, and for years to come, from a booth in the village square Plumion sold his cookies from sunup to sundown as he called out to the passersby: "Moon Pies here. Come and get your Moon Pies. Moon Pies, Moon Pies." And Plumion and all of the people lived happily everafter.
It is true that since Moon Pies hit their zenith in 1950, in excess of 125 million of these sweet treats are bought yearly. The two Carolinas eat more Moon Pies than all of the other states combined. Moon Pies are a Southern phenomenon.
 |
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Virginia Marin's Folklore topic, please visit the Discussions page.