【明報專訊】LUNA was a cow but she inherited from Mr Hawk a pair of wings! They boosted her confidence and she was gonna execute her moon landing plan. There must also be some companions and resources. She then invited Mr Rat, Mr Snake and Ms Rabbit.

''I heard that there's a marvellous palace on the moon. When I'm queen of the moon after landing, I will make you all ranking officials.''

They were all interested in such castles in the air. But to carry out such a crazy plan, you need a great vessel.

''Let me do this. I can't make a fancy ship but can still build something secure...'' Mr Rat was an experienced ship builder.

''What? Do you mean that my wings aren't secure enough?'' Luna was too sensitive.

''Oh apologies... I have no such intentions...'' Mr Rat was screwed and decided to speak no more. ''Let's see what this cow... coward can do!'' He thought.

Everyone was busy preparing the resources needed to do the ''landing'', except Luna. She just sat there and did nothing. After Mr Rat finished building the ''ship'', Luna suddenly appeared and said, ''Hey everybody! Under my great leadership, you have all finished the preparation. Now under my command, we shall prevail and complete the mission ahead!''

She put on the wings Mr Hawk had given her and tied herself up with the ship, inside which were bags of food, Mr Rat, Mr Snake and Ms Rabbit. ''Three, two, one... Go!'' She jumped off the cliff, and surprisingly, she succeeded in taking off!

''See! I didn't lie to you guys!'' She was delirious and started laughing. But Mr Rat noticed something dangerous. The ropes couldn't bear such weight.

Booooooom! Booooooom!

Something fell down the ship. ''What happened?'' Luna grumbled.

''We need to throw away things that are unnecessary. The ship is overloaded...''

Before you can say knife, one of Luna's wings cracked.

Then the ship took a nosedive. ''Oh god... I shouldn't have joined this crazy tour!'' Ms Rabbit cried.

''No worry! I installed an emergency engine in this ship. We can't always rely on one person.'' Mr Rat clicked a button and the engine started operating.

The ship steadied. What about Luna? Well, she disappeared into the darkness. Under the moonlight, people didn't see ships landing, kings of the moon laughing or marvellous palaces shinning. But just someone yelling. And the yell too disappeared after a while.

-END-

■Gear up

Refer to the story and answer the following questions.

(1) Circle one thing that doesn't make Luna fail:

( her arrogance / the ship / Mr Rat )

(2) Luna is frightened after her failure.

( True / False / Not given )

(3) The ship crashes in the end.

( True / False / Not given )

(Answers on next text)

■Food for thought

With great power comes great responsibility. A powerful but impotent (無能的) person only brings chaos. Can you think of anyone in society who has power but no ability?

■Glossary

companion (n) 同伴

castles in the air (idiom) 空中樓閣

vessel (n) 船艦

nosedive (n) 向下俯衝

[Smarties' Power English 第271期]