牛郎织女
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl: the story behind Qixi
Name: ________________ Date: ________
中国有一对夫妻，结婚几千年了，每年却只能见面一次。见面的地方，是一座喜鹊搭的桥。
他们就是牛郎和织女，中国人是听着他们的故事长大的。故事有很多版本，下面是大家最熟悉的一个。
很久以前，有个年轻人，父母很早就去世了，哥哥嫂子对他很不好。分家的时候，房子和地都给了哥哥，他只得到一头老牛。从此，大家都叫他牛郎。
有一天，老牛突然说话了：“明天，天上的仙女会去湖边洗澡。你偷偷拿走一件衣服，丢了衣服的那位回不到天上，就会留下来做你的妻子。”
牛郎吓了一跳，第二天还是去了。丢了衣服的，正是织女，天上手最巧的姑娘。她看牛郎人老实，就留下来了。牛郎种地，织女织布，几年后，他们有了两个孩子，一男一女。
老牛老了。死之前，它对牛郎说：“把我的皮留着，遇到急事，披上它就能飞。”
过了没多久，王母娘娘发现织女留在了人间，非常生气，派天兵把她抓回了天上。牛郎回到家，只看见两个孩子哭着喊妈妈。他想起老牛，赶紧披上牛皮，用一根扁担挑着两个箩筐，一个箩筐里坐一个孩子，往天上飞去。
快要追上的时候，王母娘娘从头上拔下金簪，在他们中间画了一条线。一条又宽又深的天河出现了，把他们隔在了两岸。这就是我们今天看到的银河。
成群的喜鹊被他们感动了，飞到天河上，搭成了一座桥。王母娘娘没办法，只好答应：每年农历七月初七，他们可以在鹊桥上见面。古书里还说，七夕以后，喜鹊头顶的毛都掉光了，因为给人当了一夜的桥。
这就是七夕的故事。七夕还有一个名字，叫乞巧节，因为从前姑娘们会在这天晚上向织女求一双巧手。今天，很多人叫它“中国情人节”，年轻人送花、约会，比平时还忙。
夏天的晚上，你抬头还能看见他们：银河东边是牛郎星，西边是织女星。天文学家说，这两颗星隔着十几光年。织女要是打个电话说“我想你”，牛郎十几年后才能听到。
所以，下次朋友跟你抱怨异地恋太难，你可以安慰他：至少，你们不用等喜鹊。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 去世 | qùshì | to pass away; to die |
| 天上 | tiānshàng | in the sky; in heaven |
| 派 | pài | to send; to dispatch |
| 根 | gēn | root (math.) |
| 挑 | tiāo | rising stroke (in Chinese characters) |
| 追 | zhuī | to follow (a TV series, a celebrity) (as in 追剧, 追星) |
| 宽 | kuān | wide; broad; width |
| 隔 | gé | to separate; to partition |
| 颗 | kē | classifier for small round things (grains, pearls, teeth, hearts, stars) |
| 抱怨 | bàoyuàn | to complain; to grumble |
| 安慰 | ānwèi | to comfort; to console; comfort; consolation |
| 搭 | dā | to match; to go with (as in 搭配) |
English (for the teacher)
In China there is a couple who have been married for thousands of years, yet they can only meet once a year. And where they meet is a bridge made of magpies.
They are the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and Chinese people grow up hearing their story. It comes in many versions; here is the one people know best.
Long ago there was a young man whose parents had died when he was little, and his older brother and sister-in-law treated him badly. When the family split up its property, the house and the land went to his brother, and all he got was an old ox. From then on, everyone called him the Cowherd.
One day the old ox suddenly spoke: “Tomorrow the fairies from heaven are coming to the lake to bathe. Sneak off with one set of clothes: the one who loses hers can’t go back to heaven, and she’ll stay and be your wife.”
The Cowherd nearly jumped out of his skin, but the next day he went anyway. The one who lost her clothes was the Weaver Girl, the most skilful girl in heaven. She saw that the Cowherd was an honest man, and she stayed. He farmed, she wove, and a few years later they had two children, a boy and a girl.
The old ox grew very old. Before it died, it told the Cowherd: “Keep my hide. If you’re ever in trouble, put it on and you’ll be able to fly.”
Before long, the Queen Mother of the West found out that the Weaver Girl had stayed in the human world, and in a fury she sent heavenly soldiers to drag her back to heaven. When the Cowherd got home, all he found were the two children, crying for their mother. He remembered the old ox, threw on its hide and, with a shoulder pole carrying two baskets and a child sitting in each, flew up into the sky.
Just as he was about to catch up, the Queen Mother pulled a gold hairpin from her hair and drew a line between them. A wide, deep river appeared across the sky, leaving them on opposite banks. That is the Milky Way we see today.
Flocks of magpies, moved by the pair, flew up to the river and made themselves into a bridge. The Queen Mother could do nothing about it and had to agree: every year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, they may meet on the magpie bridge. An old book even says that magpies go bald on top after Qixi, from spending a night as a bridge.
That is the story of Qixi. Qixi has another name, the Festival of Begging for Skill, because in the old days girls would ask the Weaver Girl for a pair of skilful hands that night. Today many people call it “Chinese Valentine’s Day”, and young people are busier than usual, sending flowers and going on dates.
On summer nights you can still look up and see them: the Cowherd Star, Altair, on the east side of the Milky Way, and the Weaver Girl Star, Vega, on the west. Astronomers say the two stars are more than a dozen light years apart. If the Weaver Girl rang to say “I miss you”, the Cowherd wouldn’t hear it for more than a dozen years.
So next time a friend complains to you that long distance is too hard, you can comfort them: at least you don’t have to wait for the magpies.