The Cowherd and The Weaving Maiden

Long ago, there was a travelling merchant from the west. Travelling along the Silk Road, the merchant would bring strange goods from the west to China where he would trade for the finest silk. One day while in China, the merchant saw a man looking longingly at the night sky.

Far from home, the merchant knew the look on the man’s face. It was the look of a lonely man longing for his loved ones. The merchant sat beside the man and the two men began talking. The man told the merchant his story and it was a most wonderful tale.

Once, the man was but a poor orphan boy who only had an old buffalo for company. He and the buffalo worked together for a farmer and the two were inseparable. The villagers nearby jokingly began to call him the Cowherd. The man did not mind. Despite his great age, the ox was a handsome creature whose golden hair shone in the moonlight. The boy loved the buffalo and could not imagine having a better friend.

One day, when they were out on the hills, the buffalo turned his great head to the boy and spoke. The boy was shocked but he listened to his good friend. The buffalo said he was a demigod and it was almost time for him to leave the world and go back to heaven. However the divine buffalo wish to see the boy married before he leaves the world.

The boy climbed onto the back of the buffalo as he was instructed and together they flew through the sky. They passed a mountain and the buffalo landed near a small lake. The boy was directed by the divine buffalo to the bank of the lake where he saw seven set of clothes. The buffalo instructed the boy to steal one set of the clothes. The boy did not wanted to but thought a mortal like himself should not disobey a god. The boy reluctantly obeyed and soon seven maidens came out of the lake onto the bank. The maidens knew right away that somebody had stolen one of the clothes and shouted threats to the night air.

The maidens said they were the weaving maidens of the sky and their father was the Jade Emperor, the ruler of the Celestial Heaven. The boy almost fainted. He had just stolen from gods, and not just any gods but heavenly princesses! He was certain he would be banished to the 18^th level of hell for his actions.

However, as terrified as the boy was, he could not take his eyes away from the maiden whose clothes he had just taken. She was hiding naked behind a bush and was without question the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. With courage that he did not know he possessed, the boy came forward and offered the clothes to the maiden in return for her hand in marriage.

Amazingly, he was not struck down on the spot. Instead, the seven weaving maidens laughed at his audacity. The maiden whose clothes he stole then surprised him by agreeing to his proposal. She promised to stay with him for 2 years in return for her clothes.

The boy was overjoyed and quickly returned the clothes. The couple was quickly married and the remaining 6 maidens even stayed for the wedding.

It was a happy marriage. They were happy together and before they knew it, 2 years had passed. On the last day, the boy brought his wife to the lake where he first laid eyes on her. The 6 maidens had arrived to the lake too but instead of going with them, the boy’s wife decided to stay. They were in love and from that day, they would be together.

Alas, the happiness was short-lived. 2 years on land was but 1 day in heaven but after some time, heaven noticed that they were missing one of the heavenly weaving maidens.  It did not take them long to notice where she was.

The Celestial Empress gave her daughter two choices: return to the heavens or witness the destruction of her husband. His wife had no choice. No one could withstand the will of the heavens.

The boy was despondent. He thought of death but knew he had to live because he wanted to see his wife again. One day, his old friend came to him. The buffalo who had returned to heaven was now the Ox Star of the sky and once again offered to help his friend. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, the Golden Ox Star would carry his wife from the heavens to the world and for one day, the couple would be reunited.

The man speaking to the merchant looked up in the sky again and told him what he already knows. This man was the boy in the story and he is waiting for the day his wife would return to him. The man cried in despair and loneliness, but the merchant could do nothing but offered empty comforting words to the man.

The day broke and the merchant went on his way. Along his travel route, he asked around and found that the story of the man was well-known but most considered it nothing but a legend. The few who did believe in the story said that there was nothing that could be done as the possibility of successfully going against the will of the heavens is remote.

The merchant went on back to his home in the west but the story of the man and his despair stayed with him. He knew there must be something he could do so along the Silk Road, he visited every magician and magi he could find. One finally gave him an answer.

The next time the merchant came to China, he visited the man on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. As he had hoped, the couple was together. The merchant approached the couple and offered his help. He showed them his gift from the west, a burqa made from magical clothes.

Being Chinese, the couple had never seen a burqa before and the merchant had to explain to them what it was for. The burqa was to be worn by the maiden whenever she goes outside the house. Made by a magi from beyond the borders of China, the burqa would covered the maiden totally so that no heaven would not be able to see her. The burqa was made out of the enchanted cloth so that no magic could detect her, and the merchant even gave the maiden a gag that would prevent the maiden from speaking so that heaven would not be able to hear her. With these items, the couple would be able to stay hidden from the heavens.  

The couple thanked the merchant for his help and the merchant left the couple to enjoy the rest of the night. It was the last time the merchant saw the couple. Years later while back in China, the merchant heard the folktale called “The Cowherd and The Weaving Maiden”.

It was said that a couple settled down in an unknown village where the man worked in the fields while his wife weaved at home to help support the family. The wife was a mute and for some reason always covered herself in a strange blue cloth whenever she left their house.

However the wife was an excellent weaver and the villagers all admired her amazing weaving skills and even learned from her. The girl became known as the Weaving Girl. Her work was so well-known people paid good money for it and the man used the money to buy cattle and land. As the family’s fortune turned for the better, the maiden gave birth to 2 children, a boy and a girl.

One day, Celestial guards came to their modest home and the villagers knew the truth. The man was but a cowherd who managed to capture the heart of one the heavenly weaving maidens and together they eloped. Using foreign magics, the couple ran till they settled down in the village.

When heaven finally caught up to the couple, over a decade had pasted and the children had grown. Seeing their love for each other, even the gods began to sympathize with them and the Jade Emperor lifted the Cowherd and the two children to heaven alongside their mother. So now when you see the sky, you could see the star of the Cowherd high above and the star of the Weaving Girl clear and bright.

It was the love story between a humble cowherd and a goddess of the heavens. The merchant smiled.