|
|
FOLKTALE
What is the 'swallow's bridge'?
Our name, Swallow's Bridge, refers to a popular Chinese folktale, a story of love, fidelity, and the healing property of our connection with the natural world.
The folktale [with apologies to traditional folklorists] goes something like this --
One fine summer day, the beautiful granddaughter of the Queen of Heaven, looking down upon the earth below her, spied a poor young farmer diligently working his fields with an old ox. After a time she became so captivated by the sight of the young man that she decided to forsake heaven in order to be with him. Disguising herself as an ordinary woman, she married the young farmer and they lived together happily for a number of years.
In time, however, the Queen of Heaven was alerted to what her granddaughter had done and she was angered that the girl had not first asked leave of her.To punish the errant lovers, the Queen turned each of them into a star, and then banished them to opposite ends of the firmament.
The legend continues that once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh moon, all of the swallows in China band together to form a bridge across the sky, joining the two lovers together again.
The day of the Swallow's Bridge is still celebrated as a holiday in some parts of China today. |
|
