Zhinü and Niu Lang

Zhinü and Niu Lang



Now Heavenly Grandfather had a daughter who was wondrously fair,
luminous of face with long, flowing hair. Gilt it was, all silvered and gold,
moondust and star-streams as I know you've been told. A weaver was she;
and the deep night's sky, her tapestry. She wove the stars, the comet's tails
with planet's rings and moons milk pale. Woven through were mysteries
eons old, life histories.

Heavenly Grandfather called her Zhinü and she wove,
from wisps of clouds, his imperial robes. As special present, to her he gave
a magical robe so on Earth she could bathe. Hanging her robe from a nearby tree,
she'd swim and splash, and simply be. She never knew she was watched from afar,
this maiden who spun from dream to star. She who spun couldn't see her own fate
with he who hid in the woods to wait.

Heavenly Grandfather had been called across the globe,
never seeing the cowherd stealing her robe. Like a selkie without iher skin
Zhinü was stuck on earth, and stuck with him. She needed robe magic to return to the sky
but he'd hidden it so she couldn't fly. Niu Lang loved his goddess, his faery, his sprite,
how she shone irredescent in starry night. Eventually, she loved him too
and they joyfully married as lovers oft do.

Heavenly Grandfather was livid and lightning flashed
yet naught he could do as they now were attached. Time passed, life went by
and now often she missed her home in the sky. She hunted everywhere to find the nook
where he'd hidden her robe: she looked and looked. She located it buried under ground:
in old wooden box her robe she found. Donning it, she flew back home
where father trapped her: no more could she roam.

Heavenly Grandfather raising his hand
caused a starry river the heavens to span. She couldn't pass through this milky way
and thus in the heavens she had to stay. Myriad tears fell from her eyes
washing the heavens with her desperate cries. Zhinü's love burned bright but she started to fade
when she couldn't honor the vows they'd made. He didn't want his daughter to die
so he caused a brige to form in the sky.

Heavenly Grandfather, but once a year
let this bridge in heaven thus appear. Thus while they lived for one long night
they could be together, and all was right. When each they died and passed away
each became a star in the heavens to stay. In seventh month, on seventh night
all else would fade, they'd burn so bright. Their love would shine across the sky
and so Zhinü and Niu Lang never truly die.






Prompt for: Feb 15 (RenFyn)
Subject or Theme: Any myth surrounding the Jade Emperor or his kin. You are a wandering storyteller sitting by a fire spinning out a story for your supper.
Word(s) to Include: iridescent, myriad, eon (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): god, deity, emperor, myth, child (or any derivatives of these words)
Additional Parameters: Be descriptive!!! Rhyming Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.