The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl · chapter 3 of 3
The Magpie Bridge
喜鹊搭的桥
A family on two sides of the sky, clouds woven in gray, and thousands of small birds who decide that love should not have to wait forever.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 从那以后，牛郎和孩子们每天都站在银河的这边，看着河的那边。
Cóng nà yǐhòu, Niúláng hé háizimen měi tiān dōu zhàn zài Yínhé de zhèbiān, kànzhe hé de nàbiān.
From then on, Niulang and the children stood on this side of the Milky Way every day, gazing at the other side.
- Niulang 织女，你听得见吗？孩子们都很想你！
Zhīnǚ, nǐ tīng de jiàn ma? Háizimen dōu hěn xiǎng nǐ!
Zhinü, can you hear me? The children miss you so much!
- Zhinü 牛郎又在叫我了……可是银河这么宽，我过不去。我只能一边织布，一边哭。
Niúláng yòu zài jiào wǒ le… kěshì Yínhé zhème kuān, wǒ guò bu qù. Wǒ zhǐ néng yìbiān zhī bù, yìbiān kū.
Niulang is calling me again… but the Milky Way is so wide, I can't get across. All I can do is weep as I weave.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Zhinü 我织出来的云，一片一片，都是灰色的。
Wǒ zhī chūlái de yún, yí piàn yí piàn, dōu shì huīsè de.
Every cloud I weave, one after another, comes out gray.
- Niulang 孩子们，别哭了。你们看，天上的喜鹊也在为我们难过呢。
Háizimen, bié kū le. Nǐmen kàn, tiānshàng de xǐquè yě zài wèi wǒmen nánguò ne.
Don't cry, children. Look, the magpies are sad for us too.
- Narrator 后来，到了七月初七这一天，成千上万只喜鹊飞来了。它们一只接着一只，在银河上搭起了一座桥。
Hòulái, dào le qī yuè chū qī zhè yì tiān, chéngqiān-shàngwàn zhī xǐquè fēi lái le. Tāmen yì zhī jiēzhe yì zhī, zài Yínhé shang dā qǐ le yí zuò qiáo.
Then, on the seventh day of the seventh month, thousands upon thousands of magpies came flying. One after another, they built a bridge across the Milky Way.
- Zhinü 牛郎！你看，有桥了！是喜鹊搭的桥！
Niúláng! Nǐ kàn, yǒu qiáo le! Shì xǐquè dā de qiáo!
Niulang! Look, there's a bridge! The magpies made us a bridge!
- Niulang 孩子们，快，我们去找妈妈！
Háizimen, kuài, wǒmen qù zhǎo māma!
Children, quick, let's go to Mama!
- Zhinü 牛郎，快拉住我的手！
Niúláng, kuài lā zhù wǒ de shǒu!
Niulang, quick, take my hand!
- Niulang 拉住了！织女，这一次，我不会再放开了。
Lā zhù le! Zhīnǚ, zhè yí cì, wǒ bú huì zài fàngkāi le.
I've got you! Zhinü, this time I won't let go.
- Zhinü 孩子们，让妈妈看看……你们都长高了！我每天都在想你们。
Háizimen, ràng māma kànkan… nǐmen dōu zhǎng gāo le! Wǒ měi tiān dōu zài xiǎng nǐmen.
Children, let Mama look at you… You've both grown so tall! I thought about you every single day.
- Niulang 我们也是。每一天，每一个晚上。
Wǒmen yě shì. Měi yì tiān, měi yí gè wǎnshang.
So did we. Every day, and every night.
- The Queen Mother 这么多喜鹊，都愿意为你们搭桥……好吧。
Zhème duō xǐquè, dōu yuànyì wèi nǐmen dā qiáo… hǎo ba.
So many magpies, all willing to build you a bridge… Very well.
- The Queen Mother 每年七月初七，你们可以在这座桥上见一次面。
Měi nián qī yuè chū qī, nǐmen kěyǐ zài zhè zuò qiáo shang jiàn yí cì miàn.
Every year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, you may meet once on this bridge.
- Zhinü 王母娘娘，一年只能见一次吗？
Wángmǔ Niángniang, yì nián zhǐ néng jiàn yí cì ma?
Queen Mother, only once a year?
- Niulang 一次也好。织女，我会等你，一天一天地等。
Yí cì yě hǎo. Zhīnǚ, wǒ huì děng nǐ, yì tiān yì tiān de děng.
Once is enough. Zhinü, I'll wait for you, day after day.
- Zhinü 好，我也等你。只要我们的心在一起，一年也不算长。
Hǎo, wǒ yě děng nǐ. Zhǐyào wǒmen de xīn zài yìqǐ, yì nián yě bú suàn cháng.
Then I'll wait for you too. As long as our hearts are together, a year isn't so long.
- Zhinü 回去以后，我要织最漂亮的彩云，让你们每天都能看见。
Huíqù yǐhòu, wǒ yào zhī zuì piàoliang de cǎiyún, ràng nǐmen měi tiān dōu néng kànjiàn.
When I go back, I'll weave the most beautiful colored clouds, so you can see them every day.
- Niulang 喜鹊们，谢谢你们！明年七月初七，还要请你们来啊！
Xǐquèmen, xièxie nǐmen! Míngnián qī yuè chū qī, hái yào qǐng nǐmen lái a!
Thank you, magpies! Please come again next year, on the seventh day of the seventh month!
- Narrator 从那以后，每年七月初七，喜鹊都会飞上天，为他们搭一座桥。这一天，就是七夕。
Cóng nà yǐhòu, měi nián qī yuè chū qī, xǐquè dōu huì fēi shàng tiān, wèi tāmen dā yí zuò qiáo. Zhè yì tiān, jiù shì Qīxī.
Ever since, on the seventh day of the seventh month, the magpies fly up into the sky to build them a bridge. That day is Qixi.
- Narrator 七夕的晚上，银河两边有两颗很亮的星星。老人们说，那就是牛郎和织女。
Qīxī de wǎnshang, Yínhé liǎngbiān yǒu liǎng kē hěn liàng de xīngxing. Lǎorénmen shuō, nà jiù shì Niúláng hé Zhīnǚ.
On the night of Qixi, two bright stars shine on either side of the Milky Way. The old folks say they are Niulang and Zhinü.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why are Zhinü's clouds gray?
“我只能一边织布，一边哭……我织出来的云，一片一片，都是灰色的。”
- Who builds the bridge across the Milky Way?
“成千上万只喜鹊飞来了……在银河上搭起了一座桥。”
- What does Niulang say when he finally takes Zhinü's hand?
“拉住了！织女，这一次，我不会再放开了。”
- What does the Queen Mother allow?
“每年七月初七，你们可以在这座桥上见一次面。”
- On the night of Qixi, what do the old folks say you can see?
“银河两边有两颗很亮的星星。老人们说，那就是牛郎和织女。”