11 牛郎织女（二）

Lesson Eleven

The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid （II）

1. From then on, cowherd cultivated in the field and Weaving Maid wove at home.

2. Sometimes, Weaving Maid helped cowherd to do some farm work.

3. Two people were industrious and thrifty, and they lived a happy life.

4. Two or three years passed, and they gave birth to a boy and a girl.

5. When the children can talk, at night, Weaving Maid pointed to the stars and told the children stories in the sky.

6. Although the sky was magnificent, but there was no freedom, and she didn’t like it.

7. She liked human life: she likes working with cowherd, teasing with brothers and sisters, looking at the water flowing through the stream in front of the door, and listening to the breeze blowing gently through the woods.

8. When the two children heard this, they snuggled in her arms, called “Mom”, and then called “Dad”.

9. She was very happy, but sometimes she was worried.

10. For what?

11. She didn’t tell the cowherd.

12. She was afraid that her grandmother would find her if she knew she was here.

13. One day, the cowherd went to feed the cow, and the cattle spoke again, with tears in its eyes and said, “I’m dying and can’t help you work in the fields anymore… 

14. After I died, you keep my skin.

15. If you meet something urgent, you can put on it...”

16. The old cattle died before he finished speaking.

17. The husband and wife cried bitterly, leaving the skin of the old cattle and burying the bones on the hillside behind the straw house.

18. In the sky, however, the Heavenly Queen knew the fairies had sneaked into the world to take a bath.

19. The Heavenly Queen punished them and locked them in a dark room.

20. She hated Weaving Maid in particular who dared to stay in the world and not came back, which was just to ruin her manners and damage her dignity.

21. She vowed to catch Weaving Maid back, even if she was hidden in the crevice under Mount Tai and on the coral reef in the center of the sea, she must be caught back and severely punished.

22. Heavenly Queen sent many heavenly soldiers to visit the world for a long time, only to know that Weaving Maid was married to the cowherd at the cowherd’s house.

23. One day, she went to the cowherd’s house in person. It happened that the cowherd was working in the field, so she grabbed Weaving Maid and went out.

24. When the son of Weaving Maid saw Heavenly Queen angrily pulling her mother away, he ran to hold her clothes.

25. Heavenly Queen pushed hard, and the child fell to the ground, so she took Weaving Maid back to the heaven.

26. Weaving Maid hated her very much and looked at her two lovely children. She couldn’t speak for a moment. She just called out, “Go to find Dad!”

27. The cowherd rushed home with the boy, saw the shuttle was left on the half woven cloth, the rice on the stove was steaming, and the girl was sitting in front of the door crying.

28. He decided to go to heaven and rescue Weaving Maid.

29. But how can he go to heaven?

30. He suddenly remembered what the cattle had said before he died. Isn’t this an emergency?

31. He quickly put on the cowhide, found two baskets, put a child in one basket, picked it up and ran out.

32. As soon as he got out of the door, he flew up, and the wind was blowing in his ears.

33. After flying for a while, he saw his wife and the Queen. He called “I’m coming”, and the two children also called “Mom”.

34. As he flew closer, and he was about to catch up. The Queen pulled out her hairpin and drew a line behind her. What a pity, a Milky Way suddenly appeared in front of the cowherd.

35. The Milky Way was very wide and the waves were so big that the cowherd can’t fly through.

36. From then on, the cowherd was on this side of the Milky Way, and Weaving Maid was on the other side. They could only watch from afar and could not live together.

37. They became Altair and Vega on both sides of the Milky Way.

38. Weaving Maid was severely punished, but she refused to give up her heart and must live with the cowherd.

39. As time went by, the Queen could not resist her, so she was allowed to meet with the cowherd once a year on July 7 of the lunar calendar.

40. On this day of every year, groups of magpies build a bridge over the Milky Way to let Cowherd and Weaving Maid meet on the bridge.

41. Because of this, people seldom see magpies on that day. They all go to the Milky Way to build a bridge.

42. Some people say that if you listen quietly under the grape trellis that night, you can also hear the cowherd and the Weaving Maid talking intimately on the bridge.