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October 29, 2004
seven fairies
this story is for chewa.
it is incomplete (my mum know only the gist of it, my aunt tells a longer version)
once, there were seven fairies. happily they would spend their day hopping from cloud to cloud getting to know all the silver linings there was to know. some days they would fly to the moon and play hide and seek in its craters. other days they would just lepak in heaven.
day after day after day after day they did this and from seven fairies they became seven very bored fairies.
one day - they decided to follow the rain and see where it landed. they knew they had to cross the forbidden border....but were too bored to care.
so off they went. and they discovered earth. and they decided to take a nice bath. and they were discovered by other gods who scolded them and dragged them back to heaven.
(um, my mum didn't exactly tell it this way)
actually, all my mum said was that on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar spring waters all over earth are blessed by the fairies in remembrance of their aqua frolic. they stole through the gates of heaven and managed to take a peek of earth during that day.
during their visit a farmer saw the fairy and they both fell in love and their story became the mooncake festival legend.
anyway - my aunts would actually drive all the way up to kundasang (where mt kinabalu is) to collect spring water on the 7th day of 7th month. she'd bring my grandma too. the water is supposedly able to heal minor ailments.
here's more info about the legend that i oh so badly told :)
http://medview.medric.or.kr/ictm2008/SevenFairiesFestival.htm
http://english.bhes.tpc.edu.tw/holiday/0707_valentine.asp
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2003-08/01/content_359336.htm
posted by nyx at October 29, 2004 8:18 PM
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