Orion

Hey, this is one of my favorite constellations and I love the story too. I think it's awesome! :)

Here's the story....



If you look up into the sky on a clear, dark night, you may be able to see a group of stars called Pegasus. There are hundreds of stars in Pegasus, and one of them is called Pelai.
Pelai lived in a magnificent palace with his lovely wife and their beautiful daughter. One day the daughter looked down to the Earth and saw a young hunter called Orion. Orion was as tall and handsome as any of the gods in the sky and the girl fell in love with him immediately.
Orion was out hunting one day shortly after the girl had first seen him, and as he turned into a clearing in the forest, he came upon the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. It was the daughter of Pelai, who, as soon as light had come to the sky, had slipped out of her night palace and come down to earth. Orion fell in love with her as deeply as she had fallen in love with him. The happy couple spent the day hunting and laughing and walking hand-in-hand through the forest, as lovers do. When night approached, the girl said: ‘I must leave now. I must return to my father’s palace in the night sky. We can never meet again. For I am allowed but one trip to your world. If I try to come back, my heavenly light will be put out forever.’
Orion was heartbroken. ‘Then I must come to you,’ he whispered.
‘Your love will have to be the strongest of all if you are to ascend to the sky and live with me,’ the girl said gently, and disappeared.
Poor Orion. His love was the strongest of all. But how could he find a way to the heavens?
Day after day, Orion would climb to the highest cliffs, scale the tallest trees, and even, in utter despair, reach out as far as he could. But it was of little use.
The night sky was as far away as ever. Orion sat down and wept. As he shed his tears, an old woman walked by. ‘My son,’ she said as she passed, ‘why do you cry? You are young. You are handsome. What has made you so sad?’
‘Oh woman,’ wailed Orion. ‘Love has made me weep so,’ and he explained his plight to the old woman.
She listened silently and when he had finished she said, ‘There is only one way for you to ascend to the heavens. You must gather your most precious possession and offer it to the night gods tomorrow when the moon is high. If they are pleased with your offering, they will take you to live amongst them.’
Orion was overjoyed and rushed home to find his most treasured possession. As a hunter, his bow and arrow were of great value to him, so he gathered them up. He was about to leave his humble hut and return to the clearing when he remembered the belt that his parents had given him when he had reached manhood. It was studded with precious stones and his parents had sacrificed much to afford it.
With his bow and arrow and his belt he ran back to the clearing and waited until the sun was at its highest. There was a thin veil of clouds covering the stars, but exactly when the moon should be at its highest, the sky cleared and Orion could see the shining stars.
Suddenly, a soft voice whispered in the breeze, ‘Orion, what is your most precious possession that you can offer?’
‘My bow and arrow, by which I make my living,’ said Orion.
The breeze wrenched the bow and arrow from his hands and Orion watched it disappear upwards and upwards.
A few seconds later the breeze whispered, ‘It is indeed a precious gift, but we want your most precious possession.’
So Orion took the belt from around his waist and held it up to the stars.
Again the breeze wrenched it from his hands and Orion watched as it disappeared heavenward.
‘It is indeed a precious gift, but there is something else that you have that is even more precious,’ whispered the breeze.
‘I have nothing else of value,’ cried Orion.
‘There is one thing so precious that if you offer it to the gods they will grant you your wish.’
‘Nothing. There is nothing more,’ sobbed Orion.
‘Then I leave,’ breathed the wind.
‘No. Wait!’ cried Orion. ‘My most treasured possession I cannot give away, for it is not mine to give. It was entrusted to me and in return I gave a similar gift.’
‘What is it?’ demanded the breeze.
‘It is the love that my sweetheart gave to me. That is my most treasured possession.’
As soon as he had said the words, the breeze became stronger and wrapped itself around Orion pulling him upwards and upwards and upwards, until at last he was in the sky looking down at the world.
‘My love,’ a voice behind him whispered. Orion turned round and there was his beloved. ‘You had to know that my love was your most treasured possession before you could come here. I am so happy that you knew it.’
The happy couple embraced and have been together in the sky ever since.