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How the Pleiades Came into Being

Long, long ago, an old man and his wife lived happily together on the side of a hill. They lovingly cared for a hen and her seven chicks, and the hen loved and respected them in return.

One day, though, fate took an unexpected turn. A monk came and set up his stately meditation parasol near their house. The old couple went to pay their respects to the monk and would have liked to offer him some food. They were poor though, not having enough money to buy anything worth offering. The only thing they had and could make food from was the hen, so they decided to kill it the next morning and prepare it as a food offering for the monk. The hen, overhearing the old couple as they made this plan,was both pleased and saddened: pleased to die for the sake of the old man and woman, but sad that she must leave her chicks. That night she said her last words to her children, telling them to love one another and respect the old couple. And having done so, the hen and her chicks cried and cried the rest of the night, suffering greatly.

In the morning, when the hen had been killed, the chicks were desperate. Alone in the world, what could they do? Determined not to be left, they jumped into the fire on which their mother was being prepared as a food-offering, and so died with her.

As a result of the great merit accruing from this sacrifice, the seven chicks became the seven associated stars that in the night sky are known as the Pleiades, or dao look gai - the Chick Stars. So the chicks and their mother and the merit they created are remembered down to the present day.