The love story of Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo

A long, long time ago, the Jade Emperor and his several daughters lived in heaven. The daughters worked weaving beautiful silk with pretty thread from heaven. Among the daughters, there was a daughter called Jiknyeo, who was the best at weaving linen. There was no one who could match Jiknyeo’s weaving skills. Her Jiknyeo is sincere and her heart is as soft as the grain of the silk she made. Jiknyeo worked hard every day, even when the sun was setting.

Then one day it happened. Her father, the Jade Emperor, was looking around to find a suitable son-in-law for his faithful and pretty daughter, Jiknyeo. Meanwhile, a potential groom who fell in love with the Jade Emperor and Jiknyeo appeared. It was a young man named Gyeonwoo (牽牛), who was said to be the best at herding cows in the sky. Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo fell in love with each other from the moment they first met. That's how Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo got married, and even after they got married, they spent each day living a sweet newlywed life and didn't notice the passing of time.

At first, the Jade Emperor loved Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo very much. But he grew increasingly dissatisfied. Jiknyeo forgot about her weaving and was busy following her cowherd around and playing, and the cowherd was also lounging around and driving the cow around the palace flower garden. The two were so happy that they forgot what they had to do and became lazy. The Jade Emperor warned them several times, but the two were so drunk with happiness that they became lazy again. Unable to bear it, the Jade Emperor finally became so angry that he decided to separate them forever.

“Hello! Send Gyunwoo and Jiknyeo away as exiles. Let Gyunwoo go 90,000 ri to the east, and Jiknyeo go 90,000 ri to the west! However, they can only see each other across the Milky Way once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar.”

On the day of their final farewell, Gyeonwoo held Jiknyeo's hand with tears in his eyes and made a vow.

“Jiknyeo! “Even if we never meet again, my love for you will remain the same.”

"me too."

Jiknyeo also sobbed and answered. The cowherd drove the cow and set off towards the west. Jiknyeo also left the palace and took difficult steps towards the east. As the distance between them grew longer, their hearts became more and more heartbroken. So the two began to live apart, separated by a deep river called the Milky Way.

Time passed and a year passed and it was July 7th. Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo missed each other for a year and then met across the Milky Way. But the silver river was so deep and huge. Gyeonwu came out to the riverside and called out the name of her beloved Jiknyeo at the top of her voice.

“Jiknyeo!!!”

Gyeonwoo's heartbreaking voice faintly reached her Jiknyeo's ears across the river.

"ah! “This is Gyeonwoo.”

Jiknyeo ran like crazy to the river.

“Gyeonwoo!!!”

Jiknyeo also mournfully called out to her Gyeonwu and then burst into tears. Unable to share their heartfelt stories, the two just looked at each other and shed tears. This is because we knew that when the sun came up, we would have to separate to the east and west. Every time they met like this every year, they had to shed tears like a waterfall.

Meanwhile, on Earth, every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, floods occurred that were so large that animals could not survive due to the enormous amount of tears shed by Gyeonherd and Jiknyeo. Houses and crops were washed away, and animals starved to death due to lack of food. The animals couldn't stand it anymore and gathered together to hold a meeting.

“Experiencing floods every year is so painful that I can’t live. “Let’s come up with some kind of solution.”

“Let us meet Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo. “Then the problem will be solved.”

Each animal nodded in agreement. At this time, the magpie flapped its wings and expressed its opinion.

“What if we do it this way? “While our magpies and crows are flapping their wings and lining up, Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo walk above our heads and meet us.”

“Great idea!”

All the animals agreed with the birds' opinion and cheered loudly.

Finally, Chilseok day arrived. The magpies and crows living on the ground all flew into the Milky Way River. Then, they put their wings together to create long, strong legs. Gyunwoo and Jiknyeo, who had been desperately missing each other for a year, crossed the ‘Ojakgyo Bridge’ created by the magpie and the crow and embraced each other.

“Jiknyeo!”

“Gyeonwoo!”

Tears of joy formed in the eyes of both people and sparkled. I lost track of time as we chatted about things we had missed.

Time passed quickly and dawn had already begun to break. Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo soon had to part ways.

“Jiknyeo, I will not see you again until a year has passed. “It would be great if we could live together like this.”

“It is fortunate that we meet once a year with the help of Gyeonwoo’s magpies and crows.”

Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo repeatedly expressed their gratitude to the magpie and the crows.

“Please take care of yourself.”

“Then goodbye.”

Gyeonwoo and Jiknyeo sadly parted ways, turned their backs on each other, and took heavy steps forward. The two people kept looking back and shedding tears.

Since this incident, there have been no floods on Chuseok. However, because of the tears the two people shed with joy, only a light drizzle fell. Also, every year after Chuseok, magpies and crows lose their hair. It is said that this is because Gyeonherd and Jiknyeo stepped on its head.