Inukai thought to himself, "Aha! I think I'll hide Tanabata-san's kimono for a bit. She'll be in a real fix when she tries to return to heaven. This should be interesting."
Inukai went over quietly and hid the heavenly being's kimono. Before long Tanabata finished bathing and went to return to heaven, but the kimono which earlier had been stirring in the wind was not there.
"Inukai-san, Inukai-san!" she asked. "Don't you know about my kimono that was hanging here?"
"Yes, I know about it," Inukai said.
"Please tell me, then."
"I can't tell you free of charge."
"I need to pay for information?"
"That's right. I want you to become my wife."
There was no other choice. Without the kimono, Tanabata had no way to return to heaven. The end result was that she became his wife. After that the days passed quickly, and Tanabata gave birth to a child.
One day when the child was six years old, Tanabata happened to be away from the house. Inukai, the father, told the child, "Today I'll show you something interesting. But you must not say anything to mother."
He went into a bamboo grove behind the house, and lifted up a heavy stone. It was the lid of a large chest, and inside was the beautiful kimono of a heavenly being.
The child was surprised at its beauty.
The following day it was Inukai's turn to go out. Then the child said to Tanabata, "Mother, mother! Yesterday father showed me the kimono of a heavenly being. It was so beautiful, I was really surprised."
Tanabata was thrilled. For years she had lived on the hope that such a thing would happen.
"I see. In that case, please show mother that kimono."
"Father warned me about that," the child said. "I shouldn't tell mother."
"I see. But you've already told me, so it can't be helped now. Just let me have one little look. Or else tell me where it is."
The child thought a moment before speaking. "Promise not to tell father. If you will, I'll tell you. In the grove out back, you know, there's a flat, heavy stone. It's under that."
Tanabata went out there. Sure enough, there was a flat, heavy stone. She lifted it up and found a stone chest. folded up inside was a robe of feathers that could not be forgotten even if seen only in a dream. Tanabata took it out, and put it on in place of her human kimono. Then the robe of feathers stirred in the wind, and as it stirred, her body became light and ascended as though she were being sucked up to heaven.
The child called out, "Oh, mother! When you put on the heavenly being's kimono you can go up to heaven! Mother, mother!" But she was gone before the child could say that much.
Inukai returned home that evening and learned what had happened. He went outside and looked up into the sky. All he could see was the stars twinkling; there was nothing he could do.
It grew later and he sighed in despair, still looking up at the sky. The sigh was heard by uncle Gorosuke, a neighbor.
"Inukai-san, what's the matter?"
Inukai explained what had happened. He added, "If it were somewhere I could walk to, then I would go see her even if it were a thousand ri or ten thousand ri. But since it's heaven, there's nothing I can do."
"There's no need to sigh, Inukai-san," Gorosuke said. "Just make a thousand pair of sandals and bury them under the roots of a melon plant. The vine will grow up to heaven, and you can climb it. No problem!"
"I should have thought of that," Inukai said appreciatively. He returned home and immediately began making sandals. He worked night and day, morning and evening. He completed 999 pairs. That was one pair short, but he was impatient and couldn't wait any longer.
He hurried out and buried the sandals under a melon hill. Then the melon vine, even as he watched, grew steadily and rapidly, higher and higher, until it seemed to reach right up to heaven.
"Well, let's go," Inukai said. He climbed up the melon vine, taking his dog with him. He climbed steadily till he reached the top of the vine, but because he had been short one pair of sandals, the melon vine didn't quite reach heaven.
Inukai stopped to think. "I know-- I'll have the dog go first," he said. He pushed the dog ahead of him into heaven, then grabbed its tail, and climbed up into heaven. As he walked through heaven, he saw Tanabata weaving on a loom.
"How did you ever get up to heaven?" she asked him.
"I came up a melon vine. Here, this is a melon. I brought it for you."
He handed her a melon and said, "You should slice it crosswise."
But Tanabata didn't listen to Inukai; she sliced it lengthwise. When she did, a great deal of water flowed out of the melon. In no time, the two were separated by the great river of heaven. They were standing on the opposite shores of that river.
Tanabata called out to him, "Let's meet each seven-- once in seven days!"
Inukai misheard her, and called back, "The seventh month and seventh day?"
Tanabata misheard as well, and shouted, "Yes, that's right."
And so it ended up that the two could only meet once a year, on the seventh day of July.