The Legend of the Cowherd and the Weavin

　　七夕节始终和牛郎织女的传说相连，这是一个千古流传的动人爱情故事，成为中国四大民间爱情传说之一 。

　　Qixi Festival has always been connected with traditional and moving love legend of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid which has been passed down through centuries. As a result, it has become one of China’s four major folk love stories.

　　相传牛郎父母早逝，又常受到哥嫂的虐待，只有一头老牛相伴。一天，天上的织女和其他仙女一起下凡游戏，在河里洗澡，牛郎在老牛的帮助下认识了织女，二人互生情意，后来织女便偷偷下凡，做了牛郎的妻子。

　　According to the legend, the Cowherd became an orphan at a young age and then was mistreated by his elder brother and sister-in-law, being left with only a cow as a companion. One day the Weaving Maid playing with her fellow fairy maidens came down to earth and bathed in a river. With the aid of his ox, the Cowherd got acquainted with the Weaving Maid and the two fell in love with each other. Afterwards, the Weaving Maid secretly came down to earth to become the Cowherd’s wife.

　　牛郎和织女结婚后，男耕女织，情深意重，他们生了一男一女两个孩子，一家人生活得很幸福。后来，老牛要死去的时候，叮嘱牛郎要把它的皮留下来，到急难时披上以求帮助。老牛死后，夫妻俩忍痛剥下牛皮，把牛埋在山坡上。

　　After they got married, they lived happily together and gave birth to a boy and a girl. The man spent his time farming while the lady spent her time weaving. After some time, as the cow became old and was about to die, it urged them to skin it after its death and keep its skin for use in a time of need. After the death of the cow, the couple very reluctantly skinned it. Afterwards, they buried its body in the hillside.

　　织女和牛郎成亲的事被玉帝和王母娘娘知道后，他们勃然大怒，王母娘娘亲自下凡来，强行把织女带回天上。牛郎回家不见织女，急忙披上牛皮，拉着自己的儿女，一起腾云驾雾上天去追织女。眼见就要追到了，岂知王母娘娘拔下头上的金簪一挥，一道波涛汹涌的天河就出现了，牛郎和织女被隔在两岸，只能泪眼盈盈，隔河相望，天长地久，玉皇大帝和王母娘娘也拗不过他们之间的真挚情感，准许他们每年七月七日相会一次，相传，每逢七月初七，人间的喜鹊就要飞上天去，在银河为牛郎织女搭鹊桥相会。

　　After hearing the news that the Weaving Maid had married the Cowherd, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of Heaven were infuriated and the Queen Mother herself came down to earth and dragged the Weaving Girl back to heaven. Later when the Cowherd returned home and discovered that his wife was missing, he hurriedly rapped himself up in the cow skin, and holding on to his children’s hands sped together across the skies on a cloud in pursuit of the Weaving Girl. But just as he was about to catch up with her, he was spotted by the Queen Mother of Heaven. The Queen Mother of Heaven then took out a golden hairpin from her tresses and waved it out over the sky creating the violent wavy Milky Way, leaving the two on both of its banks. As a result they could only shed bitter tears of grief while longingly viewing each other from a far away distance. But as long as time would last, the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of Heaven would never be able to dissuade the true love of the two, but only allowed them to see each other once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Every year on this day, magpies will fly up from the earth to the heavens and build a magpie bridge for the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid to cross over and meet each other.

　　七夕夜深人静之时，人们还能在葡萄架或其他的瓜果架下听到牛郎织女在天上的脉脉情话。

　　Late in the evening on the night of the Qixi Festival, people still lingering under the grape or other melon trellises can hear the affectionate words shared between the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid in the heavens.