Peter and Anneli's Journey to the Moon
Little Peter's Journey to the Moon (German Peterchens Mondfahrt) is a fairy tale written by German author and playwright Gerdt von Bassewitz. It was first performed as a play in Leipzig in 1912 and appeared in 1915 as a storybook for children with illustrations by Hans Baluschek. A 2007 English translation names the book Peter and Anneli's Journey to the Moon.
It is the story of Little Peter and his sister Anneli, who help a May beetle named Mr. Zoomzeman (German: Herr Summsemann) to retrieve his missing sixth leg from the moon. After a fantastic and dangerous overnight adventure they recover the leg and are returned to their beds at home.
A thief, stealing wood in the forest, had cut off Mr. Zoomzeman’s great-great grandfather's sixth leg many years before. The Night Fairy banished the thief to the moon as punishment, but he took the leg with him, causing later generations of the Zoomzeman family to only have five legs.
The current Mr. Zoomzeman can break the curse and recover his missing leg if he finds two children who are pure of heart and have never been cruel to animals. He enters the house of Little Peter and his younger sister Anneli (Anneliese) and tells them the story. They promise to help him retrieve the lost leg. Mr. Zoomzeman teaches them a magical chant that allows them to fly and they set off for the moon.
On the moon they meet the Sandman, who looks after the star children, each corresponding to a child on Earth. As their own stars are untarnished and shine brightly it proves Peter and Anneli are pure of heart. The Sandman is impressed and offers to take the three heroes to the Night Fairy's tea party at her castle.
They travel in Sandman's celestial chariot, along the milky way, where the children learn about cosmic phenomena.
Meanwhile, the Night Fairy has invited lots of celestial guests to her midnight party. These include the thunder man (Donnermann), the wind bride (Windliesel), the cloud woman (Wolkenfrau), the lightning witch (Blitzhexe), Rainy Fritz (Regenfritz), the gale giant (Sturmriese), Hail Hans (Hagelhans), Mother Hulda (Frau Holle), Ice Max (Eismax), the vodyanoy (Wassermann), Mary-of-the-dew (Taumariechen), morning glory (Morgenröte), the afterglow (Abendröte), the morning star (Morgenstern) and the evening star (Abendstern). The Guardian of the Milky Way appears and complains about the chaos caused by the guests travelling to the meeting. The guests apologize and offer the guardian gifts.
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