mizuxfem!oc
The Ningyo (人魚, "human fish") is a creature with both human and fish-like features.
Many fishermen who find these creatures caught in their nets throw them back into the ocean.
For if a ningyo is caught, she will bring misfortune and cal...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: LESSONS OF LOVE _______
The tale went as follows:
The Cowherd, Niulang, was frequently abused by his sister-in-law and ultimately kicked out of the house. With nothing to his name but an old cow, he tried to pick up the pieces, betrayed by his 'family.'
One night, the old cow spoke out, informing him of fairies bathing in the springs that night. The fairy would stay on earth if she failed to go back to heaven before morning.
Following the old cow's words, Niulang indeed saw these beautiful fairies bathing in the hot springs and fell in love with one of them, the heavenly weaver named Zhinü. To make her stay, he stole her clothes that helped her go back to heaven, forcing her to be a regular human.
They married and had two children.
Finding out about this, the emperor of Heaven was furious, so he sent minions to escort his heavenly weaver back to paradise.
The old cow suddenly spoke again, telling Niulang he could take his skin to make a flying coat to chase after him. During this chase, the Mother Goddess created the Milky Way, blocking his journey to the heavens.
Watching this great battle unfold, the magpies on earth were moved deeply. The flock of birds drew a bridge over the Milky Way for Niulang and Zhinü to meet. The emperor of Heaven was surprisingly moved by the sight and allowed this couple that transcended the earth and heavens to meet on the Magpie Bridge only once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The Qixi Festival.
Ichiro always thought it was a bit demented.
In his mind, it wasn't a tale of true love but conquest and manipulation. If you wanted a woman who was better than you, a woman of a higher rank, trap her.
That was truly the moral of this 'love story.' Maybe if there was a degree of honesty, he could've appreciated the tale more. There was indeed much to learn, just not the lessons of love the story so often hid behind.
Now, Ichiro was deep in the forest with a rope in his hands. He cut it from a fishing net, and the smell of seaweed was forever bound into the fabric. It reminded him of his tiny fishing village, one of the thousands in Japan. It was like he'd die at home, an ocean away.
He was going to end it all and hang himself deep in the forest. His European gun, fixed firmly to his waist, was nothing to him. He didn't want to die through any creation of the Dutch. They owned his life already. They will not own his death, too.
Instead, he gripped a noose that smelled like home.
Mei was waiting for him in the city center. They were going to watch the play of the holiday The Cowherd and the Heavenly Weaver. He felt sick to his stomach, though. The festivities of 'love', decorations of magpies, stalls selling beautiful garments 'weaved from the heavens', and artwork of the couple made him misanthropic.
