"Mama, can you tell us a bedtime story?" little Rou asked her mother.

"Alright. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess…"

"No, mama, I want a story that has no silly girls in it!" Qiang insisted from his bed.

"Princesses aren't silly!"

"Yes they are, they always fall under some stupid spell by some spirit and some oh-so-brave warrior has to save them. If they weren't silly they wouldn't have gotten involved with spirits in the first place!"

"But spirits are special!"

"Yeah, they always want the pretty girl the hero falls in love in, or they just wanna eat someone. That's really special."

The mother just watched her twins debate the pros and cons of bedtime stories with a smile on her face. "Alright, dears. Since you two brought up the subject of spirits I will tell you about one myself."

The two stopped quarrelling immediately. "Really, mama? There are spirit stories?"

"Yes, and this one isn't just a legend. It's an actual fact."

They crawled under the covers and lay down on their beds. "Tell us the story now, mama!"

"Well, it goes like this: On the full moon, young lovers claim to see an old man with a bag on his back and a small book in his hand walking about in the moonlight. They say that this old man was a spirit who ties together the fates of those who are destined to be with each other forever. The bag on his back is filled with red cords, while the book records the true mates of every person on this earth, past, present or future. When the old man meets a young couple on whom the heavens have smiled upon, he ties a red cord to the feet of the lovers. He can been only seen by mortals on the full moon, and whoever has the luck to meet him will find true love very soon."

The little ones' eyes opened wide in curiosity. "Wow, mama! Did you ever see him before?"

"Why, yes, just before I met your father, on a night like this." She gestured to the full moon in the sky, shining through the open window.

They all gazed at the full moon for a few seconds, then the mother hastened the little ones to go to sleep.

Not far away, an old man set down the bag he was carrying on a boulder, then sat down for a rest, carefully placing the book in his hand on his lap. The light of the full moon shone on the contents of the bag, which was full to the brim with red cords. "I really don't understand the spirits, to go send a man my age on a matchmaking assignment for eternity," the old man muttered as he rubbed his sore back.

He looked up at the full moon, and took out a small piece of wood from his pocket. He had carved the little piece of wood for her, and had meant it to be a fish but she thought it was a bear. After she left, he had managed to rescue it from the canal where he had thrown it into after that night. It was his only reminder of her.

"I only wish I could tie a cord to you too," he whispered to the moon, then slung the bag over his shoulder and carried on his way.

I'm having Yuekka on my mind lately, so bear with me please. The legend of the old man under the moon is a real Chinese legend, and there are actually stories of different mortals meeting him.

"Rou" means gentle, while "Qiang" means strong.