牛郎织女：从尘世邂逅到天河遥盼
Long ago, there was a handsome but poor boy. He lived with his older brother and sister-in-law. When his parents died, his brother got the house and land, but the boy only got an old ox (牛). As a cowherd, he had to work in the fields every day with his ox.
The seventh daughter of the Heavenly Emperor, known as the Weaving Maid, was very good at weaving (织). The Heavenly Emperor loved how she made the world more beautiful by weaving clouds with rainbows.
The cowherd’s ox was actually an immortal (神仙) who made mistakes in heaven (天堂) and was turned into an ox to work on earth. One day, the ox spoke to the cowherd, saying, “You are a kind person. If you want to get married, go to the river and your wish will come true.”
The cowherd went to the river and saw the seven beautiful daughters of the Heavenly Emperor come down from heaven. He was especially taken by the youngest and prettiest one, so he hid her fairy clothes. When the other six fairies went back to heaven, the youngest couldn’t go without her fairy clothes.
The cowherd then showed himself and told the Weaving Maid he would give back her clothes if she agreed to marry him. After a moment of shyness and eagerness, the maid agreed. They got married and had a son and a daughter two years later.
In heaven, the Heavenly Emperor missed the beautiful skies his seventh daughter used to weave. He sent some soldiers to find her and bring her back. As the Weaving Maid was flying to heaven with the soldiers, the cowherd put their children into two bamboo baskets and used his wife’s magical fairy clothes to chase after her.
But the Heavenly Emperor created the Milky Way (银河) in the sky. The seventh princess was forced to move to the star Vega, and the cowherd and their children stayed on the star Altair. They were only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, known as the Qixi Festival.
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