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The Man in the Moon refers to any of several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body that certain traditions recognise in the disc of the full moon. The images are actually composed of the dark areas of the lunar ''maria'', or "seas" and the lighter highlands of the lunar surface. Various cultures recognise other examples of lunar pareidolia, such as the Moon rabbit. In the Northern Hemisphere, one common Western perception of the face has it that the figure's eyes are Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis, its nose is Sinus Aestuum, and its open mouth is Mare Nubium and Mare Cognitum. An older European tradition sees a figure of a man (Maria Serenitatis, Tranquilitatis, Fecunditatis and Nectaris) carrying a wide burden (Mare Vaporum and Lacus Somniorum) on his back. He is sometimes seen as accompanied by a small dog (Mare Crisium). Conventionalized illustrations of the Man in the Moon seen in Western art often show a very simple face in the full moon, or a human profile in the crescent moon, corresponding to no actual markings. "The Man in the Moon" can also refer to a mythological character said to live on or in the moon, but who is not necessarily represented by the markings on the face of the moon. An example is Yue-Laou, from Chinese tradition. ==Origin stories== There are various explanations for how the Man in the Moon came to be. A longstanding European tradition holds that the man was banished to the moon for some crime. Christian lore commonly held that he is the man caught gathering sticks on the sabbath and sentenced by God to death by stoning in the book of Numbers XV.32-36.〔Harley, the Rev. Timothy, FRAS (1885). ''(Moon Lore )'', London; Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowry. p.21. Archived at Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved March 2, 2014.〕 Some Germanic cultures thought he was a man caught stealing from a neighbor's hedgerow to repair his own. There is a Roman legend that he is a sheep-thief. One medieval Christian tradition claims him as Cain, the Wanderer, forever doomed to circle the Earth. Dante's ''Inferno''〔Dante, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, canto 20, (line 126 ) and (127 ). The Dante Dartmouth Project contains the original text and centuries of commentary.〕 alludes to this:
This is mentioned again in his ''Paradise'':〔Dante, The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, canto 2, (line 51 ).〕
There is also a Talmudic tradition that the image of Jacob is engraved on the moon,〔Wolfson, Elliot R. "The Face of Jacob in the Moon" in ''The Seductiveness of Jewish Myth: Challenge or Response?'' edited by S. Daniel Breslauer, Albany NY; SUNY Press, 1997〕 although no such mention appears in the Torah.〔Harley, the Rev. Timothy, FRAS (1885). ''Moon Lore'', London; Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowry. P.21〕〔Harley, Timothy (1885). ("II. THE MAN IN THE MOON." ) Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved March 2, 2014.〕 John Lyly says in the prologue to his ''Endymion'' (1591), ''"There liveth none under the sunne, that knows what to make of the man in the moone."'' In Norse mythology, Máni is the male personification of the moon who crosses the sky in a horse-drawn carriage. He is continually pursued by the Great Wolf Hati who catches him at Ragnarok. The name ''Máni'' simply means "Moon". In Chinese mythology, the goddess Chang'e is stranded upon the moon after foolishly consuming a double dose of an immortality potion.〔Houyi#Chang'e's ascent to the Moon〕 She is accompanied by a small group of moon rabbits. In Haida mythology, the figure represents a boy gathering sticks. The boy's father had told him the moon's light would brighten the night, allowing the chore to be completed. Not wanting to gather sticks, the boy complained and ridiculed the moon. As punishment for his disrespect, the boy was taken from earth and trapped on the moon.〔(''The Hydah mission, Queen Charlotte's Islands'' ) Charles Harrison, Church Missionary Society c. 1884〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Man in the Moon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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