Today, I'm pleased to share a romantic Japanese folk tale with you. After reading my story, don't forget to look up the sky.
Long time ago, when gods still lived in the sky, there was a beautiful princess named Orihime, the daughter of one of these gods. She loved weaving and made lovely clothes for the people in the sky. However, she wasn't interested in any boys, which made her father worried. He found a hardworking young man named Hikoboshi and introduced him to Orihime. They felt in love at first sight.
However, after their marriage, they both became lazy. Orihime stopped weaving, and people's clothes became worn out. Hikoboshi stopped taking care of his cows, and they became skinnier and weaker. Her father was mad at them and said, " Your marriage has made you both very lazy. From now on, you can't see each other." Then, he created the Milky-way to separate them. Orihime lived in one side of the Milky-way, and on the other hand, Hikoboshi had to live in the opposite side of it. They missed each other terribly and cried every day.
Seeing their sadness, Orihime's father felt sympathy to them and said, " If you work hard, I'll allow you to see each other once a year." From then on, they worked diligently and looked forward to their yearly reunion on the seventh of July . They can only meet if the weather is clear.
In Japan, we celebrate this day as Tanabata. We pray for good weather so they can meet. As a child, I used to write down my wishes on tanzaku, which is a small strip of paper, and pray for their reunion.
Since Tanabata falls during the rainy season, it's often hard for them to meet every year. I sincerely hope for a sunny day this year, so they can see each other again.
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It's a beautiful story, @yumiyumayume.
In our Mediterranean culture, the Milky Way is very much influenced by Greek mythology. It also has a lot to do with the infidelities of Zeus.
According to legend, Herakles was the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. In order for Herakles to acquire immortality, Zeus placed him at the breast of his wife, Hera, while she slept, to drink her divine milk. When Hera awoke and realised that she was suckling her husband's illegitimate child, she roughly pushed him away. The spilt milk spilled out into the sky, creating the Milky Way.
In astronomy, Orihime would be Vega, and Hikoboshi would be Altair. I used to wonder who Deneb would be, since Vega, Altair, and Deneb are always together as the Summer Triangle.
Hi, @druida . Thank you for reading my story. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much for sharing the Greek mythology. Yours also sounds very beautiful.
Nice to meet you, @Mars . Thank you so much for the explanation. It will be great to see the Summer Triangle tomorrow. Knock on wood!
We celebrate Tanabata according to the lunar calendar in Takaoka-city (Toyama), so it's not the rainy season, and Orihime and Hikoboshi meet virtually every year.
Hi, @Akiko san . Thank you for the comment. Some places are like what you mentioned. Matsumoto city, where my family and I used to live, in Nagano also celebrates it on the 7th of August. I think you are lucky because you can celebrate it twice!