我有壹個朋友對中國文化很感興趣，得知著名的七夕節後，就向我詢問七夕節的由來。沒有半點準備的我支支吾吾答不出來。為了找回場子，我特意向老師請教了怎麽用英語講牛郎織女的故事，大家壹起來看看吧！
The legend goes that a poor young man who lived with an old bull was leading a hard life. One day the bull told him that there were some weaver fairies bathing in the lake, and that if he could steal their clothes,?he could have one of them as his wife. 傳說壹個貧窮的年輕人和壹頭老牛住在壹起，生活很困苦。壹天，老牛告訴他，有壹些天界織女來到湖中洗澡，假如他能偷走她們的衣服，他便可以娶她們中的壹個為妻。
Another night before the fairies came, the cowboy hid in the reeds. When the fairies came to take a bath, they left their clothes at the lakeside. The cowboy found that the youngest fairy was so beautiful that he fell in love with her at first sight. He secretly took away her heavenly clothes while she was bathing. When the fairies finished bathing, they put on their clothes and flew away. But the youngest fairy was left behind because she had no clothes to wear, and without these heavenly clothes she couldn’t fly. 另壹日夜晚，在織女們到來之前，牛郎就躲在了蘆葦叢中。當織女們來洗澡時，便把衣服留在了湖邊。牛郎發現最小的織女非常美麗，第壹眼就愛上了她。在她洗澡時，他偷偷地拿走了她的天衣。織女們洗完澡，穿上衣服飛走了。但是最小的織女卻被落在了後面，因為她沒有天衣，而沒有天衣她就不能飛。
The cowboy offered to help the fairy. She thought the young man was so kind, and fell in love with him too. Though later the cowboy told her the truth, she was understanding and?sympathetic, and wanted to marry the cowboy.
牛郎設法幫助了織女。她覺得這個年輕人很善良，也愛上了他。雖然後來牛郎告訴了她真相，但她理解並同情他，並想嫁給牛郎。?
The weaver fairy could make very beautiful clothes of high quality, which made their life better and better. They were happy and later the fairy gave birth to one boy and one girl. They were the perfect family.
由於織女能夠做出相當精美的衣服，使他們的生活變得越來越好。他們很幸福，而後仙女生下了壹男壹女。他們的家庭和睦美滿。
However, before long the "heaven" found out about this. How could a fairy marry a human? That was forbidden in the world. The fairy's father and mother who were the king and the queen of heaven wouldn’t allow this, and sent out a team to get her back by force.
可惜不久，天庭就發現了這壹切。壹個仙女怎麽能嫁給壹個凡人呢？在世間這是個禁忌。織女的父母是玉皇大帝和王母娘娘，他們決不允許這樣的事發生，於是派出壹隊人馬強行把她抓回來。
The cowboy was chasing after the team that caught his wife, the weaver fairy. When he almost reached them, in order to stop him, the weaver's mum, who was the goddess queen of heaven, took off her hairpin and used it to draw out a milky river between them and the cowboy. The sad cowboy had no choice and watched the weaver fairy taken back to heaven against her will.
牛郎拼命地追趕抓走他妻子織女的隊伍。而當他快趕到他們跟前時，為了阻止他，織女的母親，王母娘娘，摘下她的發簪，用它在牛郎和他們之間劃出壹條銀河。悲傷的牛郎別無選擇，眼睜睜看著織女不情願地被帶回了天庭。
After that they missed each other so much that the fairy cried each day and would rather die. Finally the queen and the king softened their hearts and agreed that the young couple could get together once a year on July 7th.
在那之後，他們無比思念對方，而仙女每日以淚洗面，甚至寧願壹死了之。最後，王母和天帝終於心軟了，同意這對年輕夫婦每年的7月7日可以相聚壹次。
So on that night the birds called magpies would fly above the Galaxy and make up a "bridge" for them. The cowboy would take their children walking over the bridge and meet the weaver fairy in the middle.
因此，在那天晚上，喜鵲們會飛到銀河上空，為他們架起壹座鵲橋。牛郎便帶著孩子們在鵲橋上與織女相會。
n fact the "cowboy" and the "weaver" in the myth are two bright stars on each side of the Milky Way, while the bull is a constellation in the sky we can see at?night. Every year on Qixi, people (mostly women) celebrate the festival and pray to the fairy wishing to have better skills in tailoring and also to gain some luck in love.
事實上，神話中的“牛郎”和“織女”是銀河兩側的兩顆明亮的星星，而老牛則是在夜空中可見的壹個星座。每年的七夕節，人們（主要是女性）都會慶祝這個節日，並向織女乞巧（祈禱），希望能擁有更好的女紅（裁縫）技能，同時也祈願能在愛情中獲得壹些小確幸。