The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver 牛郎织女 (niu2 lang2 zhi1 nv3)
By Zhang Ciyun |
July 25, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A long, long time ago, there was a smart and hard-working young man living in a remote village. Since his parents died early, he had to live with his elder brother and sister-in-law and helped to tend their cattle.
But he was mistreated and the sister-in-law was especially mean. Eventually, he was kicked out of the home and was allowed only to take a very old and skinny ox with him.
Soon the young man found a piece of land on a mountain slope and began to grow crops with the help of the old, skinny ox. Thanks to his hard work, in a couple of years, the young man was able to grow enough crops to sustain himself and to build a small house for himself and shed for the ox.
But the young man was very lonely.
One night, to his great surprise, the ox started to talk to him. The beast told him that early every morning, seven beautiful fairies came down from heaven to bathe in the river in the mountain valley. He urged the young man to sneak to the river, swipe and hide the clothes of one fairy while they were all bathing, and then ask the fairy to marry him.
Though not sure whether he should believe it, the young man still went to the river before dawn and hide himself in a bush. Soon afterward, the seven young fairies came to the river, disrobed and jumped in the river to bathe and play.
The young man was awestruck to see so many beautiful nude fairies playing in the water and almost forgot why he was here. Then, he jumped out of the bush, rushed to the bank and ran away with the clothes of one fairy.
The fairies were startled by the intrusion and they quickly got dressed and flew back into the sky -- except for the youngest who could not find her clothes.
Then the young man came back and asked the fairy to marry him. The fairy agreed.
After they wed, the young man continued to work in the field while his fairy wife wove cloth at home. They lived a happy life and soon had a son and a daughter.
The fairies were actually the granddaughters of the Queen Mother of the West. When she found out that the youngest fairy married a mortal, she was so angry that she ordered several deities to take her back into the heaven. The young man tried to chase after his wife, but he could not fly. Then, the old ox told him: "I'm dying and you can take my hide and put it on your back, then you can fly."
The ox promptly dropped to the ground and died. The young man was very sad but he followed the ox's advice and put on its hide to fly into the sky with his son and daughter in search of the fairy.
When the Queen Mother of the West found the young man was coming, she took out a hairpin and drew a line in the sky, which turned into the long Milky Way. Then, the fairy was transformed into the Girl Weaver Star (the Vega) and the young man turned into the Cowherd Star (the Altair) separated by the Milky Way.
Eventually, the Queen Mother was moved by their deep love for each other and allowed them to meet on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year -- on a bridge formed by flocks of magpies across the Milky Way. The Night of Sevens Festival has now become the Chinese Valentine's Day.
But he was mistreated and the sister-in-law was especially mean. Eventually, he was kicked out of the home and was allowed only to take a very old and skinny ox with him.
Soon the young man found a piece of land on a mountain slope and began to grow crops with the help of the old, skinny ox. Thanks to his hard work, in a couple of years, the young man was able to grow enough crops to sustain himself and to build a small house for himself and shed for the ox.
But the young man was very lonely.
One night, to his great surprise, the ox started to talk to him. The beast told him that early every morning, seven beautiful fairies came down from heaven to bathe in the river in the mountain valley. He urged the young man to sneak to the river, swipe and hide the clothes of one fairy while they were all bathing, and then ask the fairy to marry him.
Though not sure whether he should believe it, the young man still went to the river before dawn and hide himself in a bush. Soon afterward, the seven young fairies came to the river, disrobed and jumped in the river to bathe and play.
The young man was awestruck to see so many beautiful nude fairies playing in the water and almost forgot why he was here. Then, he jumped out of the bush, rushed to the bank and ran away with the clothes of one fairy.
The fairies were startled by the intrusion and they quickly got dressed and flew back into the sky -- except for the youngest who could not find her clothes.
Then the young man came back and asked the fairy to marry him. The fairy agreed.
After they wed, the young man continued to work in the field while his fairy wife wove cloth at home. They lived a happy life and soon had a son and a daughter.
The fairies were actually the granddaughters of the Queen Mother of the West. When she found out that the youngest fairy married a mortal, she was so angry that she ordered several deities to take her back into the heaven. The young man tried to chase after his wife, but he could not fly. Then, the old ox told him: "I'm dying and you can take my hide and put it on your back, then you can fly."
The ox promptly dropped to the ground and died. The young man was very sad but he followed the ox's advice and put on its hide to fly into the sky with his son and daughter in search of the fairy.
When the Queen Mother of the West found the young man was coming, she took out a hairpin and drew a line in the sky, which turned into the long Milky Way. Then, the fairy was transformed into the Girl Weaver Star (the Vega) and the young man turned into the Cowherd Star (the Altair) separated by the Milky Way.
Eventually, the Queen Mother was moved by their deep love for each other and allowed them to meet on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar every year -- on a bridge formed by flocks of magpies across the Milky Way. The Night of Sevens Festival has now become the Chinese Valentine's Day.
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