七夕的传说

 　　Raise your head on August 6 and gaze at the stars, you will find something romantic going on in the sky.

　　VALENTINE'S Day in China, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, falls on August 6 this year.

　　That is, on the evening, Niu Lang and Zhi Nv will meet on a bridge of magpies¹（鹊桥） across the Milky² Way（银河）. Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.

　　Romantic legend

　　The legend has been handed down for nearly 2 millennia³. The story has been recorded as far back as the Jin Dynasty (256-420 AD). Poets composed hundreds of verses⁴ on the love story and many types of Chinese opera tell the story.

　　The Chinese people believe that the star Vega（织女星）, east of the Milky Way, is Zhi Nu and, at the constellation⁵ of Aquila（天鹰座）, on the western side of the Milky Way, Niu Lang waits for his wife.

　　Zhi Nv was said to be the youngest of seven daughters of the Queen of Heaven. With her sisters, she worked hard to weave beautiful clouds in the sky, while Niu Lang was a poor orphan⁶ cowherd, driven out of his home by his elder brother and his cruel wife.

　　Niu Lang lamented⁷ over his lonely and poor life with an old cow, his only friend and companion. The magical cow kindly⁸ told him of a way to find a beautiful and nice woman as his life companion.

　　Under the direction of the cow, Niu Lang went to the riverside on an evening, where the seven fairies slipped out of their heavenly palace to bathe.

　　He took one of the beautiful silk dresses the fairies had left on the bank. When the fairies left the water, the youngest couldn't find her clothes and had to see her sisters fly back to heaven without her.

　　Then Niu Lang came out with the dress and asked the youngest fairy, Zhi Nv, to stay with him.

　　Several years passed on Earth, which were only a few days in heaven. Niu Lang and Zhi Nv lived happily together and had two children before the Queen of Heaven discovered Zhi Nv's absence.

　　She was so annoyed she had Zhi Nv brought back to heaven. Seeing his beloved wife flying in the sky, Niu Lang was terrified. He caught sight of the cowhide hanging on a wall. The magical cow had told him before dying of old age: "Keep the cowhide（牛皮） for emergency use."

　　Putting the cowhide on, he went after his wife with his two children.

　　With the help of the cowhide, Niu Lang was able to follow Zhi Nv into heaven. He was about to reach his wife when the Queen showed up and pulled off her hairpin⁹ to draw a line between the two. The line became the Silver River in heaven, or the Milky Way.

　　Zhi Nv went back to the heavenly workshop, going on weaving the clouds. But she was so sad, and missed her husband across the Silver River so much that the clouds she weaved seemed sad. Finally, the Queen showed a little mercy, allowing the couple to meet once every year on the Silver River.

1 magpies   

喜鹊（magpie的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They set forth chattering like magpies. 他们叽叽喳喳地出发了。
• James: besides, we can take some pied magpies home, for BBQ. 此外，我们还可以打些喜鹊回家，用来烧烤。

2 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

3 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

4 verses   

诗( verse的名词复数 )； 韵文； 诗节； (的)节

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。
• Tom sang the verses and everybody joined in chorus. 汤姆唱独唱部分，然后大家一起唱合唱部分。

5 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

6 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

7 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 hairpin   

n.簪,束发夹，夹发针

参考例句：

• She stuck a small flower onto the front of her hairpin.她在发簪的前端粘了一朵小花。
• She has no hairpin because her hair is short.因为她头发短，所以没有束发夹。