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In a palace beside the Silver River lived Chuc Nu, the
Weaver Maiden. She was the most beautiful and most skilled of Jade
Emperor's daughters. Dusk till dawn she sat weaving the silk robes that
the fairies wore. None could surpass her works. Every day when she
finished washing her new silks she draped them across the heavens spread
into white clouds to dry.
While spreading out her silks in the sky one
afternoon, a breeze caught the corner nearest to her revealing a beautiful
stream and grass covered hill on the earth below. She was captivated by
its beauty and with the water buffaloes as they bathed in the stream. As
she watched she heard music. Beside the stream sat a young buffalo boy
playing a buffalo flute. She was enchanted by the music and the striking
good looks of the young man. Even though he was a simple country boy he
stood as strong and proud as the finest of princes. She watched the seen
below until he had called the buffaloes and led them away and out of
sight. She returned to her work but was caught in a dream.
The next afternoon she again heard the music of the flute. She ran
outside and looked down to watch the buffalo boy once again. This time she
watched as he lead the buffaloes home. As he went into his hut she noticed
that no one came out to greet him. She wondered if he could be lonely. Day
after day she abandoned her work as soon as she heard the bamboo flute
until one night she decided that she would go down to meet him. She
dropped down cloud by cloud until she was just outside the hut.
As he approached she explained that she lost her path and needed to get
to the Silver River. He realized that since there was no road near his hut
that she must have wandered for hours. He invited her to have dinner with
him. They shared in cooking the meal and she discovered that he was alone
having lost his parents. He had only the hut and the meager wages earned
by being a buffalo boy. During the course of the evening they began to
fall in love. Chuc Nu and the buffalo boy, Nguu Lang sat under the stars
while he played his flute. Nguu Lang inquired about her home along the
Silver River. She replied that it was not nearly as beautiful as the
hillside. He asked her to marry him. Chuc Nu became upset and began to
cry. She revealed to him that she was a fairy and had been watching him.
She told him that she loved him but that they would both be punished if
she stayed. After a fleeting argument she decided to stay.
Chuc Nu and Nguu Lang lived together as man and wife. Each morning they
led the buffaloes to the stream, he played his flute and she sang. After a
year she gave birth to twins, a boy and girl. Another year passed and the
young family was happier than ever but Chuc Nu that it could not last. One
afternoon a thunderstorm came over the horizon and lightening began to
crash all around the young family. Chuc Nu, with tears running down her
face told Nguu Lang that her father had at last come for her. Thien Loi,
the Thunder Spirit was sent to kill Nguu Lang unless she returned. She bid
farewell to her family and with a horrendous clap of thunder, jumped onto
a cloud and rode up to heaven.
Every night since she had left, Nguu Lang laid by the stream hoping to
catch a glimpse of his wife. Chuc Nu spent the days in tears and the
nights wandering the gardens sobbing as she heard the cries of her babies.
She finally decided to confront her father. She begged his forgiveness and
pleaded for him to punish her not Nguu Lang and her children. She asked
for one mortal lifetime with her husband and then she would accept any
punishment he deemed fitting. Jade Emperor was moved but told his daughter
that as she was the most talented of all the fairy weavers there was no
way they could allow her to go. After explaining that she could not weaver
because of the tears in her eyes, she asked if Nguu Lang could become a
fairy rather than her becoming a mortal.
Jade Emperor considered this proposal for a while. Finally he said that
since Nguu Lang was a buffalo boy, he could tend their buffaloes. His
offer, however, came with the condition that they both take care of their
responsibilities. Not long after Nguu Lang and Chuc Nu were reunited.
Their love only strengthened by the time apart.
Soon, however, the looms sat unused and the buffaloes roamed
unattended. One evening as they herded the buffaloes back to the stables,
they noticed one was missing. As they searched they discovered that the
animal was headed straight toward the Jade Emperor's palace. They ran to
catch it but were to late. It had made its entrance into the palace gates
and all the way into the throne room. When Chuc Nu and Nguu Lang caught up
to it, they were greeted with the laughter of the fairies. The Jade
Emperor, however, was not laughing. He reprimanded the young lovers for
neglecting their responsibilities for the past several months, a violation
of the original agreement. He decided that the best way to solve this was
to separate the pair. Chuc Nu was to stay in her room and weave on the
east bank of the Silver River which Nguu Lang was to tend the buffaloes on
the west bank. The two begged for another chance but the Jade Emperor had
made his decision. He further decided that they would only be able to see
each other once a year but only if they had carefully tended to their
responsibilities. It was decided that on the seventh day of the seventh
month, Chuc Nu would be allowed to cross the river and spend one week with
her husband.
With that the Emperor now had to build a bridge across the Silver
River, as none existed. He gathered all the architects, engineers, and
mason on earth and ordered them to work on it. He instructed them that it
must be finished by the seventh day of the seventh month - one year. As
the year passed, the various groups spent little time building and more
time arguing as to how it should be built. On the sixth day of the seventh
month the bridge was not yet completed.
That night, Chuc Nu set down her shuttle and walked to the river to see
the bridge. To her horror there was no bridge but many workman arguing.
She ran to her father and told him what she had seen. The Jade Emperor was
so furious that flames shot from his eyes. He stormed down to the river
bank and found the men still fighting. In his anger he declared that the
men didn't deserve to be men and transformed them into crows. He declared
that in the morning they would span the Silver River wing to wing so that
Chuc Nu could cross on their backs. The birds became so angry that they
pecked each other bald.
The next morning Chuc Nu went to the river and the crows lined up wing
to wing. She crossed over and into Nguu Lang's arms. The entire week they
wept with the joy of being together and the sorrow of being separated
another year. This is why each year as the seventh day of the seventh
month the crows disappear from the countryside and return several days
later stripped of their feathers. For each year they still peck each other
bald, blaming each other for their plight. It is said that if you look up
in the sky on these nights you can see two stars come together - they are
Chuc Nu and Nguu Lang, the reunited lovers. If there are unexpected rain
showers, it is because of the tears of sorrow and joy from the pair. If a
rainbow appears it is because Chuc Nu has tossed aside her skeins of
brightly colored silk to trail the sky in her haste to be with her
husband. TOP
Taken directly from:
"The Sky Legends of Vietnam."
Lynette Dyer Vuong. HarperCollins Publishers.
©1993
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