新潟市立総合教育センター
Old Story

1 　Ｔｈｅ Story of Tanabata 　　　　　ALTによるＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ　　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　Tanabata is celebrated on July 7. For the festival, Japanese write a wish on a small piece of paper. Many colorful pieces of paper are tied to branches of bamboo with strings. The pretty bamboo branches make nice decorations for school classrooms and outdoor shopping malls. Do you know the story behind tanabata?
　　　Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. Her name was Orihime, which means “Weaver Princess” in English. A “weaver” is someone who makes cloth. Orihime’s father was Tentei, the “Sky King”. Every day Orihime went to the Amanogawa, or “Milky Way”, to make cloth for her father. The beautiful cloth made Tentei happy. But Orihime was lonely and sad.
　　　One day Orihime’s father introduced her to Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi lived on the other side of the Amanogawa. He was a cowherd. A “cowherd” is someone who takes care of many cows. Orihime and Hikoboshi fell in love at once, and they soon got married.
The two were happy together. But Orihime forgot to make cloth for her father, and Hikoboshi forgot to take care of the cows. This made Orihime’s father very angry. So, he told Orihime and Hikoboshi that they could never meet again.
　　　Orihime was sad because she couldn’t meet Hikoboshi. Her father was unhappy, too. At last, Tentei decided to allow Orihime and Hikoboshi to meet each other across the Amanogawa once a year, on July 7. That is why we celebrate tanabata then.


(注)
celebrate（祝う），a piece of 〜（１枚の〜），colorful（色とりどりの），
tie（結ぶ），branch（枝），bamboo（笹），string（ひも，糸），
decoration（飾り），shopping mall（商店街），behind（〜の後ろの），
once upon a time（昔々），princess（王女），weaver（機織り），cloth（布），
cowherd（牛飼い），fell＜fall in love（恋に落ちる），
got＜get married（結婚する），angry（怒って），allow（許す)



Question and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and　a verb.


Q1. What does a weaver do?

A1.


Q2. Who was Orihime’s father?

A2.


Q3. Did Orihime’s cloth make her father happy?

A3.


Q4. After they were married, what Orihime and Hikoboshi forget to do?

A4.


Q5. When are Orihime and Hikoboshi allowed to meet each other?

A5.






＜解答例＞

A1. A weaver makes cloth.

A2. He was Tentei, the “Sky King”.

A3. Yes, it did.

A4. She forgot to weave cloth for her father, and he forgot to take care of the cows.

A5. They are allowed to meet (each other) on July 7.