Star, which I took to be a
Guest-Star. Fortunate man! you have been to the River of Heaven, and
have looked upon the face of the Weaving-Lady!..."

[Footnote 2: This is the Japanese reading of the Chinese name.]

* * * * *

--It is said that the meeting of the Herdsman and the Weaver can be
observed by any one with good eyes; for whenever it occurs those stars
burn with five different colors. That is why offerings of five colors
are made to the Tanabata divinities, and why the poems composed in
their praise are written upon paper of five different tints.

But, as I have said before, the pair can meet only in fair weather.
If there be the least rain upon the seventh night, the River of Heaven
will rise, and the lovers must wait another whole year. Therefore
the rain that happens to fall on Tanabata night is called _Namida no
Am['e]_, "The Rain of Tears."

When the sky is clear on the seventh night, the lovers are fortunate;
and their stars can be seen to sparkle with delight. If the star
Kengy[=u] then shines very brightly, there will be great rice crops
in the autumn. If the star Shokujo looks brighter than usual, there
will be a prosperous time for weavers, and for every kind of female
industry.

* * * * *

In old Japan it was generally supposed that the meeting of the pair
signified good fortune to mortals. Even to-day, in many parts of the
country, children sing a little song on the evening of the Tanabata
festival,--_Tenki ni nari!_ ("O weather, be clear!") In the province
of Iga the young folks also sing a jesting song at the supposed hour
of the lovers' meeting:--

Tanabata ya!
Amari isogaba,
Korobub['e]shi![3]

But in the province of Izumo, which is a very rainy district, the
contrary belief prevails; and it is thought that if the sky be clear
on the seventh day of the seventh month, misfortune will follow. The
local explanation of this belief is that if the stars can meet, there
will be born from their union many evil deities who will afflict the
country with drought and other calamities.

[Footnote 3: "Ho! Tanabata! if you hurry too much, you will tumble
down!"]

* * * * *

The festival of Tanabata was first celebrated in Japan on the seventh
day of the seventh month of Tomby[=o] Sh[=o]h[=o] (A.D. 755). Perhaps
the Chinese origin of the Tanabata divinities accounts for the fact
that their pub