The lyrics depict a "gypsy" woman, who prays an entire night to the Moon goddess for a husband. In the end, the moon says that she shall have her man, but in return she wants her first-born child to be turned over to her.

When the child is born, it turns out that its skin color does not resemble the father's, but instead is white "like the back of an ermine" (the white fur of a stoat originating from Armenia), and has grey eyes. The gypsy man automatically assumes that his wife committed adultery, and kills her with a knife. Afterwards, he carries the infant onto the top of a mountain, where he abandons it.

The child is taken up into the sky by the moon, and on nights when the moon is full, it is because the child is happy, and when the child cries, the moon will wane to make him a cradle.

The chorus throughout the song says that the moon wants to be a mother, yet cannot find a lover who will make her a woman (and therefore, impregnate her), and questions her as to what she would do with a child of flesh.

Description from Wikipedia. (less info)