| Altair and Vega are two stars that can be
seen clearly in the summer sky. In Chinese folklore, however, they are related to a
romantic story between the daughter of the Emperor of the Heaven and a poor cowherd. The
God in the heaven, Jade Emperor had seven beautiful daughters, with whom he was very
strict. He forbade his daughters of any entertainment and had them weave silk cloth at
home everyday. The cloth was sent to make the rainbow, and the princesses were called Zhinu
(literally girl weavers).
One day, Jade Emperor was drunk on his wife, Queen of the Heaven's birthday banquet.
Realizing that no one could wake him up for a couple of days, the seven sisters decided to
go down to the earth and have some fun.
After having a great time on the earth, the girls were so hot and tired that they
decided to take a bath when they found a lake in a beautiful valley. They took off their
clothes and swam happily in the lake.
Just at that time, a young cowherd was feeding his ox nearby. He was amazed in seeing
so many goddesses and wanted to know them. So he sneaked up to where the girls left their
clothes and stole a red one from among them and hid away. When the girls came up from the
lake to put on their dresses again, one of them cried out that hers is missing. They
searched for it in vain. But time was up and they had to return to the Heaven. The one who
had lost her dress had to remain behind. She was the Zhinu, the youngest and
prettiest of them all.
The cowherd just meant to make a joke, but he felt very sorry seeing the girl crying.
He came out from hiding and returned the dress to the girl. Since it was too late, he let
the girl stay in his small shelter.
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