The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl Traditional Asian Story Illustrations: Ă ngela Vera Moreno
Original title: 牛郎織女
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
Designed by: Ángela Vera Moreno
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl Traditional Asian Story Illustrations: Ă ngela Vera Moreno
Near the sky where the Milky Way shined there lived a god of the sky
The god of the sky had a daughter called Orihime. She lived on one side of the Amanogawa river, wove clothes for the gods and made their kimonos.
Because Orihime spent most of her time weaving, she became very sad and felt that she would never find love.
Her father then decided to search for a man for her.
And after a long search, he introduced a man that worked as a cow herder at the other end of the Amanogawa called Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi was a young man that worked hard.
Orihime had a very kind personality and was really beautiful. They both fell in love at first sight. They immediately got married and enjoyed their time together.
However, they enjoyed being together so much that they stopped working. “Because Orihime stopped weaving, the god’s clothes are all worn out. Please tell Orihime to start weaving again!”
“All the cows got sick because Hikoboshi isn’t taking care of them!” Everyone started complaining to the God of the Sky.
The god got really angry and told them: “One of you will live on the East side of the Amanogawa, and the other can live on the West side!�
And separated
the two
Orihime was very sad and asked her father to let them meet again. He was so moved by his daughter’s tears, so he said: “Orihime, you may see Hikoboshi once a year, on the night of the 7th day of the 7th month.”
From then on, Orihime worked really hard everyday looking forward to see Hikoboshi once a year.
Hikoboshi also worked really hard by taking care of the cows so that he can see Orihime.
Finally, the long-awaited day arrived, but the Amanogawa was too difficult for both of them to cross.
A flock of magpies saw Orihime’s sadness and made a bridge
so she could cross and reunite with her lover.
It is said that when it rains on Tanabata, the magpies do not come and the lovers have to wait another year. The rain of this day is called “The tears of Orihime and Hikoboshi�.