Miscellaneous Myths: The Cowherd And The Weaver Girl

A romantic tale of love, heartbreak, and more importantly, SPACE! And believe it or not, this one's actually seasonal!

PARTIAL TRACKLIST: Starfall, Flight of the Silverbird, Sky Becomes Water, Star Sky

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

With an Amara account, you can translate this very video by following this link:

[ishika]

*ancient humans, looking at the night sky and seeing a vague triangle:* ah. a bird.

[Viktor-qnju]

Another episode of “ this is how [insert holiday] was made! “

[HuanjianLin]

I find it so fascinating how the "steal a deity's/nonhuman entity's clothes so they'll marry you" is a trope that exists across cultures. It's like if the selkie in the tale actually wanted to stay

[DonnaBarrHerself]

All these “Oops your mom is gone” stories have GOT to be explanations for childbirth deaths.

[purplehaze]

I seem to recall Red once saying she looked up at the night sky in the wilderness and was absolutely mesmerized by the stars. Now here we are in 2021 and she’s saying that she’s an avid stargazer. Old habits die hard I suppose.

[cupcakegirljen]

Cowherd: *steals a girl's clothes*
Me: Oh god, Animal Bride flashbacks

[ButterflyScarlet]

If I had a dollar for every time a powerful skilled immortal fell in love with a random ass human only for them to be torn apart by the machinations of another deity, I'd be fucking rolling in it. The Greek pantheon alone would pay off my student debt

[mockerbird]

“Remind me to never pick a fight with a magpie, apparently those little scamps are stronger than they look”
As an Australian, I can say YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT THEY ARE!

[SuperSongbird]

Given how most "human guy steals a magic girl's clothes and makes her marry him" stories end VERY badly, it's sweet that this one has a happy(ish) ending. Weaver Girl obviously loved her Cowboy and her mum was just being cruel.

[rexcorvorum]

“Remind me never to pick a fight with a magpie, apparently those little scamps are stronger than they look” As an Australian I can confirm this

[billywarren]

The lesson here is looking at the night sky constantly drives people to write their own head canons about the stars

[tntguardian]

It wouldn't be a tragic fairy tale without someone pulling out the most sudden and powerful move to split a happy couple. Perhaps Hera should have taken notes from the Goddess that tore the sky apart with a hair pin to be spiteful

[ishika]

if the deus ex machina in your story isn't an Intelligent Ox Who Was There All Along, i don't want it.

[jasminnyack]

"Congrats, you're grounded forever." I find that hilarious. Especially with her being removed from the ground.

[UrpleSquirrel]

That must have thrown the cowherd for a loop. I mean, for him it went:

- See pretty girls in the river
- Decide to play a prank by stealing their clothes
- One of the girls comes to find you
- Surprise, she's a goddess
- Extra surprise, no smiting
- Extra extra surprise, she likes you and says she totally has to marry you now

And all things considered, it worked out well - at least until the mother-in-law showed up.

[timothymclean]

2:40: You can tell this is an old story with ten thousand versions, because all the characters' names are _really_ on-the-nose.

[EdwardENigma]

I would have engaged in a bit of stargazing myself, IF THOSE DAMN STARS ACTUALLY SHOWED UP!!!

[madskristiansen]

And here I thought "He saw me naked one time and now we MUST marry" was just a dumb anime cliche. I do like however that she used it as an excuse to cover for her actual love of him :)

[LisKissASMR]

I am Japanese and this legend has become more significant to me over the past year or so. Due to Covid my boyfriend in England was unable to visit me in Osaka for a very long time and we were both very sad but eventually he invited me to come live with him in England. The day that I ended up arriving in England was 7/7 (Tanabata) and we’ve been physically together ever since. He doesn’t really get the hype but I always get really mushy when I explain Tanabata to people ✨

[josephgustafson]

The queen mother just causally tears the sky in two with a hairpin, amazing.