Hello, welcome to Chinese Folk Tales.
I'm Lisa O'Sullivan and I've got another amazing story to tell you.
I hope you like it.
Tonight when it gets dark, take a look up to the night sky.
Hopefully you can see all the stars twinkling away in the heavens.
Have you ever tried to count them?
Have you ever wondered how they got there?
Well, my story today is all about how two stars in particular found their way into the universe and how they became divided by the Milky Way.
These stars are called Altair and Vega.
But in China, they're better known as Nulang and Jinu.
The Milky Way is known as the Heavenly River or Tianhe because that's what it looks like.
Let me explain.
A long time ago, there was an honest and loyal cowherd.
That's someone who looks after cows.
His name, Nhu Lang.
He had lived a very sad life up until that point.
His parents had died when he was still very young, and so he'd been sent to live with his brother and sister-in-law, who was not a nice person at all.
Her name was Mrs Ma.
Husband, you're good for nothing little brother's here.
Look at the state of him.
Looks like he's been sleeping in a ditch.
But I... Don't you go speaking back to me.
Go wash yourself in the stream before dinner.
Okay, I'll... But Mrs. Ma wasn't listening and she didn't care anyway.
And when he came back to the house for his dinner, as clean as clean could be, she said, Too late.
You took too long.
There's no dinner left.
Now, go and sleep in the barn with the other animals.
One day Mrs Mack demanded that New Lung should bring home all his oxen from the field for her to count.
I want to make sure they're all there and you're not cheating me.
There should be ten of them.
I want to count them all.
Every last one.
The only problem was that New Lung knew that he only had nine oxen, no matter how many times he counted them himself.
Seven, eight, nine.
Only nine.
He still only counted nine.
He was sure he hadn't lost any, but his sister-in-law would be so cross if he came back with anything less than ten.
As the day that he had to present the oxen came near, He sat on a little hill in the field and wept.
What could he do?
With tears in his eyes, he didn't see an old man appear from nowhere.
He took pity on New Lang and said, There, there, don't take on so.
Look, I'm pretty certain I saw an old, ill ox on a hill not very far away at all.
Maybe that's your missing ox?
Why not go and see and maybe care for it?
The cowherd went in search of the ox and eventually found it sitting in a ditch.
Woe is me.
Woe is me.
I feel so tired and I've broken my knee.
Oh, is that all?
We can sort that.
Get you back on your feet in no time.
What did you do?
Oh, that's my business.
Silly little mistake.
How about you come with me?
I'll care for your knee and give you some food.
Pretty soon, they were getting on so well.
The best of friends.
And the ox confessed. that he was actually an ox god.
Whatever, said New Lung.
Eventually, the god was better, and the cowherd took all ten oxen back to his sister-in-law.
But she wasn't impressed.
That's the scraggiest, mangy group of oxen I have ever seen.
Steady on.
Out you go, all of you, and never come back.
And she slammed the door in their faces.
Look, it's her loss.
We can all go and live in the woods by the enchanted river, light campfires, eat jiaozi and baozi, tell stories and sing songs.
We'll have a great time.
And that's what they did.
One day, however, New Lung spotted a weaver fairy bathing in the river.
Her beautiful clothes were laid neatly on the bank.
He recognized her at once as one of the nine daughters of the King and Queen of Heaven.
She seems a nice young lady.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
I'm too shy and she's busy.
Come on!
I say, young weaver fairy, I'm an ox god, and this is my good friend Newlung.
Might we join you?
Oh, you frightened me.
Where did you come from?
They had given her a bit of a shock.
But although startled to begin with, she soon saw that they were friendly and started chatting away happily.
Oh, but look at the time.
I am supposed to be spinning cloud silk for the king and queen of heaven.
I was only supposed to be taking a quick break.
You've been distracting me.
But I suppose we can talk a little longer.
Who's to know?
Niu Lang and the Weaver Fairy, who was called Ji Nu, chatted away for hours.
The Ox God left them to it because the couple were getting on like a house on fire.
He didn't want to be in the way and was hoping she wouldn't leave too soon.
The Ox God whispered in Niu Lang's ear.
I'll go hide in the woods.
But you two seem to be made for each other.
Just call if you need me.
You should ask if she would become your wife.
New Lung blushed a little, but thought this was a very good idea.
Now, where were we?
The pair talked and laughed till day's end.
The moon had made her nightly journey and, before they knew it, the sun was climbing into the sky once again.
In dawn's golden light, Niu Lang said, Marry me.
I never want to be apart from you again.
I never felt this way before, but on your head be it.
My parents are the king and queen of heaven and I guarantee they won't be happy at all.
And that was just how it happened.
Niu Lang and Ji Nu fell deeply in love.
They got married And it wasn't long before they delighted in their two children.
It's fair to say they were as happy as happy could be.
Sadly, the good times didn't last.
And when at last the king and queen of heaven found out that the fairy had wedded a mortal, they became very angry indeed.
And her father raced down from heaven.
You're coming with me, young lady.
He said.
You're a very naughty girl.
I forbid you from returning to earth ever again.
New Lung was beside himself.
The Ox God hated to see his friend so sad.
But he also had some sad news of his own.
Look son, none of us lives forever.
My time on this earth is coming to an end.
No, you can't.
Oh, it's okay. will move on and become something else.
But when that happens, I want you to turn my hide into a pair of shoes and a cloak.
Quite apart from being very fashionable.
When you wear them, you'll be able to fly up to heaven and search for Jinu and live with her together again.
No way.
And that's exactly what happened.
New Lung did exactly as the ox had asked and created a fabulous leather coat with matching shoes.
Thank you, my friend, for all you have done for me.
He tried them on and at once he flew into the sky towards the stars, startling the other oxen.
Soon, New Lan was approaching Heaven.
There she is!
There she is!
I can see Jinu!
And Jinu could see him too.
They were so happy, waving excitedly at each other.
But just as they were about to be in one another's arms again... Oh no, you don't.
The Queen of Heaven took out her hairpin and she scratched it across the sky to create a silver river, creating the milky way.
New lung was trapped on one side of the heavenly river and gnu was on the other.
They were separated.
They both wept such tears of sadness that it rained down upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
Their clear and honest love for one another touched the hearts of all the birds, but especially the magpies.
That's sad.
Really cold.
There must be something we can do.
And there was.
Once a year, On the seventh day of the seventh month, all the magpies in China fly up to heaven and form a bridge to unite Niulang Jinu and the kids as one big happy, loving family.
But sadly, it's just for one day.
The rest of the year, they have to content themselves with looking at one another across the Milky Way.
Niulang as Altair on one side and Jinu as Vega on the other.
Ever since that day, the Double Seven has been a very special day for lovers in China.
With that, we conclude this episode of Chinese Folk Tales.
Thanks for listening.
If you like our stories, do give this podcast a five-star rating.
Leave your comment and share with your friends.
To hear more, please subscribe to Chinese Folk Tales on all major podcast platforms.
We'll see you next time.
Bye for now.
