Cantaloupe means singing wolf. Not the scene that jumps to mind when slicing open the dazzling melon. And yet, no secret. Slice open the word to find canta, "sing" in many a language, and loupe, "wolf."
Apparently the melon is named after a town, which is named after the wolves who once serenaded its hills.
Perhaps they were howling to that other orange orb, the moon. Perhaps they were singing of lost love, of melancholy. Perhaps they were praising the tasty fruit balls that littered the ground.
Lovely, they must have yelped, and sweet.
Cantaloupe is too bright, too fragrant, too cheerful to induce melancholy. Still, it's good to know the melon has a poetic past. And _ even in fall _ a few more weeks of delicious future.
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