A young cowherd by the name of 牛郎(niúláng) came across a beautiful girl 織女(zhīnǚ), who is the seventh daughter of the goddess. This beautiful girl escaped from the boring heaven to have some fun.
織女's(zhīnǚ) mother (The Goddess) found out that her daughter is with a mere mortal and got infuriated with the whole situation.
On earth, 牛郎(niúláng) discovered that his wife is missing. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife.
Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhinü. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega.
Once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (鵲橋, "the bridge of magpies", quèqiáo ) over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constellation so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.
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| Niúláng and Zhīnǚ reuniting |
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