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Weaver of Destiny
The Weaving Maiden was the youngest of seven daughters of the Queen of Heaven, who wove the most beautiful silks to be
made into clothing for the gods. One day, her sisters, deciding she was working too hard, took her down to earth for some
fun. There, she met the handsome Cowherd, and they fell in love.
The Weaving Maiden decided to stay on earth to be with him. Soon, the Queen realized that no-one was doing the weaving, and hunted high and low for her daughter. Finding her on
earth with the Cowherd, the Queen dragged the Weaving Maiden back to heaven to resume her duties. When the Cowherd
tried to follow, the Queen of Heaven waved her jade comb across the skies, forming the Milky Way that separated the lovers.
Everyday afterward, the Weaving Maiden cried and pined for her Cowherd as she wove her silken bolts.
Finally, her father the King, feeling sorry for her, decreed that hereafter, on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese year, the lovers
would be allowed to meet. So every year, on that day, the magpies would fly down from heaven and form a bridge across the
Milky Way, and the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden would go across the bridge and meet. And those of us on earth
looking up on that day will see the bridge of magpies as the rainbow. |
