La Lune

"Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king's daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king?
Well, finally, one day, he managed to meet her, and he told her that he could no longer live without her. The princess was so impressed by his strong feelings that she said to the soldier: "If you can wait 100 days and 100 nights under my balcony, then at the end of it, I shall be yours."
Damn! The soldier immediately went there and waited one day. And two days. And ten. And then twenty. And every evening, the princess looked out of her window, but he never moved. During rain, during wind, during snow, he was always there. The bird shat on his head, and the bees stung him, but he didn't budge.
After ninety nights, he had become all dried up, all white, and the tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn't hold them back. He no longer had the strength to sleep. All that time, the princess watched him. And on the 99th night, with the moon high and full in the sky, the soldier was standing watching the balcony... what do you think happened?
- I don't know! - cried the boy eager to hear the end of the tale - the princess came to meet him and they lived happily ever after?
- Well, no one is quite sure exactly what happened - the old man said. - You got to remember that in one more night, the princess would have been his. Forever. And all his dreams would have come true. However, instead of that, the soldier stood up, took his chair, and went away...
- Why? where did he go? - shouted the boy outraged,
- No ever knew what happened to soldier, why he went away, nor where did he go.
Some believe that he realized that she could not possibly have kept her promise. That would have been terrible! He would have died. This way, however, at least for 99 days, he was living under the illusion that she was there, waiting for him. Others say he became disillusioned with a princess who could set the task and watch coldly while it nearly destroyed him.
No matter what was the reason, the princess was heartbroken and didn't accept anyone to wed. Princes came from all over the world to see her. Offering all the riches and dreams anyone could think of. But one by one, she'd sent them away, in the hope that her soldier would be back by the balcony. Her father sent out messengers throughout the entire kingdom and beyond. He used scouts, priests and even sorcery to try to find him. But it was all in vain, it was as he never was: he'd vanished.
The princess eventually died of grief. The all kingdom wept. The bells of the churches tolled a silent tune, children didn't laugh for days, and the land mourned the death of its beautiful princess.
Some say that if you look closely at the moon, on those nights when it’s completely full, you can the see the figure of a princess, looking down as if searching for a lost soldier"