七夕节始终和牛郎织女的传说相连，这是一个很美丽的，千古流传的爱情故事，成为我国四大民间爱情传说之一 。本书为“中国传说故事”系列之一，采用中英文对照的方式，讲述了这个美丽的爱情故事，文字简洁，译文生动，值得一读。本书不仅可以成为青少年读者的休闲读物，还可以成为青少年读者学习英语的绝佳图书。

夏天的夜晚，一大群孩子聚在医院里，大家都喜欢仰起头来望天空，那儿繁星闪烁。有一条白茫茫的银河，横穿南北，苍苍茫茫，气势磅礴。银河的东边，有一颗发着青色光辉的星星，边上还紧挨着四颗小星，活像是一台织布机，大伙儿都叫它织女星。银河的西边呢，有一颗亮闪闪的星星和织女星遥遥相对，在它的一前一后又有两颗小星，看起来就像一个人挑着一副担子似的，大伙儿都叫它牵牛星。

每当这个时候，老人一边指点着天上的牵牛星和织女星，一边就会讲述起《牛郎织女》的故事来。这个动听的故事起码讲了二千多年啦，世世代代传下来，大伙儿都朝那故事里添加点东西进去，于是故事就变得越来越好听，越来越好听，让人百听不厌。

一、兄弟分家

1.The Division of the Family

二、池畔娶妻

2.Getting a Wife at the Pondside

三、织女思归

3.Nostalgia of Zhinu

四、天宫斗法

4.Fighting in the Palace of Heaven

五、鹊桥相会

5.Meeting at the Magpie Bridge

到了三门，出来两个小鬼，面目狰狞，煞是可怕，闷声不响，举起手里的狼牙锤就朝牛郎劈了过来。

As they arrived at the Third Gate，two little ghosts jumped out abruptly．They were ugly and angry．Without being noticed they raised their wolf-teeth hammer and attacked Niulang．

牛郎停住脚步，瞪大眼睛喊了起来：“哪来的野鬼，毫无一点规矩，敢来拦你七姑爷，你们睁大眼睛好好给我瞧瞧，这不是两个穿红兜兜的娃娃？”

Niulang halted his steps and yelled with his broad eyes，“You wild ghosts！Behave yourselves！Who dares to stop the seventh brother-in-law？Open your eyes and look at the two kids with the red bellyband？”

嚯，好大的口气！这人怎么没见过？那两个小鬼傻了眼，再走过来朝那担子里一瞅，果然是一男一女两个小娃娃，穿着一色的红兜兜，那两张小脸，活灵活现就像是王母娘娘。哎哟哟，大水冲了龙王庙，一家人不认得一家人啦！这不是织女的两个小孩儿吗？自家人，自家人，可不敢得罪了。

“Wow！What a tone！But we have never seen you before？”The two ghosts then came up and looked at the baskets and thev indeed saw two babies，a boy and a girl with the red bellyband．Their little faces took after that of Empress Wang S0 muCh！“Ouch！It was a pity that we nearly missed identifying our family members！How could it be！Aren’t they the two kids of Zhinu？We belong to the same family！I do not dare to offend them．”

怎么办？两个小鬼一商量，赶紧先派一个进去报信，一个就拦在门口，点头哈腰地眼牛郎敷衍着，也不说让进，也不说不让进。

What to do then？After careful considerations，the two decided to have one go into the Heaven to send the message while the Other held Niulang at the gate，perfunctorily talking with Niulang without giving him permission to enter．

不一会儿工夫，王母娘娘颤颤巍巍迎了出来。她心里头一百个不舒服，可是脸上却总还得装出笑脸来不是？

After a brief moment，Empress Wang came out quiveringly and loftily．She was very upset in her heart，but in her face she had t0 pretend a smile．

说起来，织女私自下凡，嫁给了牛郎，这件事她王母娘娘是坚决不答应的。非但王母娘娘不答应，王皇大帝的火气就更大了。不过毕竟生米已经煮成熟饭，你们老俩口生气有啥用？你看，这不是，外孙女婿挑了一副担寻上门来，把两个小娃娃也给带来了，能不认吗？

The fact that Zhinu descended down to the Earth without their permission and the decision of marrying Niulang had annoyed Empress Wang very much．Not only was the Empress upset with it，Jade Emperor was even furious about it．Now that it had become the fact，what could they do to change it？You see．when the grandson-in-law came with the kids，they had no other way but to receive them．

不过，王母娘娘的鬼点子毕竟还是蛮多的，外孙女婿头一次上门，她就先要给他个下马威，只见她一边满脸堆笑，一边就把牛郎领进了一间屋子。

But to demonstrate her authority，Empress Wang decided to play a trick on Niulang first．After all，this was the first time for them to meet．She led Niulang into the room with smiles．              P73-P75