'Porcupine's Plan' | Ep. 157 (2)
PORCUPINE: Oh. Very well, then. How about… an echo?
EARTH KING: An echo…?
PORCUPINE: Exactly! A sound that repeats after you say it!
NARRATOR: Earth King was getting flustered.
EARTH KING: But an echo is just a sound wave reflecting off a surface and bouncing back to you! I can't give you an echo! Porcupine, ask for something I can give you! Something you see here in my cave!
NARRATOR: Porcupine smiled to himself. His plan seemed to be working!
PORCUPINE: Something I see here in your cave, you say... Well, in that case…
NARRATOR: He pointed to the sun and the moon.
PORCUPINE: …I want those.
NARRATOR: Earth King's face fell.
EARTH KING: The sun and the moon??? You want the sun and the moon? !
PORCUPINE: I do! As tokens of your hospitality. Because, like you yourself said, it would be rude of you to refuse my request. … Would it not?
NARRATOR: Earth King hung his head. For he knew his hands were tied.
EARTH KING: Fine, Porcupine. Take the sun and the moon. They're yours now.
NARRATOR: So Porcupine took the sun and the moon.
But as you can probably guess, he did not keep them for himself. He brought them high above the clouds, back to Sky Queen's palace… and returned them to the crystal tower where they rightly belonged.
These days, we no longer have a custom where a guest can choose any gift they want. But we do have light and warmth during the day, and darkness and cool at night.
And we owe our thanks to Porcupine: a wise and wily creature with a sharp body, and an even sharper mind.