Kindness: Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Sagittarius is a large southern constellation¹ in the brightest part of the Milky² Way, beyond which lies the center of our galaxy³. Sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters on or around November 23.

In ancient Greece, a group of creatures who are half-human and half-monster lived in the grassland⁴. They were fierce and barbarous, but Chiron was an exception. He was kind, sincere and respectable. One day, Hercules came to visit his friend Chiron, because he heard that the wine there had special aroma⁵ and wanted to try some. After drinking the wine of Chiron, Hercules insisted on drinking the rest of it. Chiron told him that the wine should be shared and not only drunk by Hercules. However, Hercules was angry and started fighting with the creatures.

In spite of having strong powers, the group of creatures could not defeat Hercules. They had to escape to the home of Chiron. Hercules shouted from outside that if no one came out, he would destroy the whole group. In order to save the group and stop the war, Chiron came out. At that moment, Hercules shot his arrow and it went through Chiron’s heart. Hercules was so grieved by this and regretted what he did. Just before he died, Chiron said, “The soft heart can stop the arrow no matter how sharp it is; the monster will not lose its conscience no matter how crazy it is.”

When he died, Chiron ascended⁶ into the sky and became Sagittarius.

星座起源的美丽传说：射手的善良

在遥远古希腊的大草原中，驰骋着一批半人半马的族群，这是一个生性凶猛的族群。“半人半马”代表着理性与非理性、人性与兽性间的矛盾挣扎，这就是人马部落。部落里唯一的例外射手奇伦，是一个生性善良的男子，他对人坦诚真挚，谦逊有理。因此受到大家的尊敬与爱戴。

有一天，英雄赫五力来拜访他的朋友奇伦。赫五力早就听说人马族的酒香醇无比，便要求奇伦给他拿来享用，可是，他喝光了奇伦的酒仍不尽兴，执意要喝光全部落的酒。奇伦非常耐心地解释给他听，酒是部落的公共财产，不是任何一个人可以独自占有的，希望赫五力不要因为一时的兴致而犯众怒。赫五力向来脾气暴躁，怎么能听得进奇伦的话，他把这个善良的朋友推到一边就闯进了人马部落。果不出奇伦所料，暴躁的赫五力和凶猛的人马族碰在一起，冲突不可避免的发生了。

赫五力力大无穷，幼年即用双手扼死巨蟒，他完成国王的十项不可能完成的任务都游刃有余，连太阳神阿波罗都惧他三分，人马族虽然厉害，也并不是赫五力的对手，他们纷纷落逃。赫五力手持神弓紧紧追赶，借着酒劲，大肆进攻。人马族被逼的走投无路，只好逃到了奇伦的家中。人们惶惶不安，赫五力站在门口大声呵斥，如果再没人出来，他就把这个部落毁掉。奇伦听到这里，为了部落，为了朋友，为了化解这场争斗，他奋不顾身的推开门，走了出来。就在那一刹那，赫五力的箭也飞了过来！赫五力惋惜又痛心的看着自己的朋友被神箭射穿心脏，而奇伦则用尽最后的力气说到：“再锋利的箭也会被软弱的心包容；再疯狂的兽性也不会泯灭人性。”

这时候，奇伦的身体碎成了无数的小星星，飞到了天上，它们聚集在一起，好象人马的样子，那只箭还似乎就在他的胸前。

为了纪念善良的奇伦，人们就管这个星座叫射手座。