Long ago the nephew of the August Personage of Jade was given the task of keeping the river of the sky flowing. His task was important, for without him, the stars would not be in the right place in the Heavens and would bump into each other. If that happened, those who relied on the stars could be in danger; sailors, for example, could become lost and farmers could plant their crops at the wrong time.
For long years, the nephew did his job well and the Heavens were perfect and all were happy and safe, knowing that the Celestial Bureaucracy was protecting them. One day though, the nephew became distracted. He had been at his job for many years and thought no one would notice if he neglected his post for a few moments. He left the river of night to move on its own and he came to earth.
There, he found a beautiful peasant girl and the two of them were talking. The nephew was enamored of the girl and she liked him as well. They began talking and soon they fell in love. They had eyes only for each other, so neither of them noticed that the river of the night had stopped flowing and that some of the stars had bumped into each other and been bruised.
The August Personage saw it though and came looking for his nephew. When he found him, his wrath was great and he kicked him from the hillside where he sat with the village girl all the way back into the heavens. The nephew was ashamed, for he knew he had neglected his duty and brought dishonor to his family and to the Bureaucracy. Worse still, he missed the beautiful peasant girl and knew that he could never speak to her again.
The girl was also unhappy, for though she had known him for only a short time, she loved the nephew too. She began to cry, fearing that the August Personage had killed him. She begged him to spare the nephew, saying it had all been her fault. The August Personage of Jade was moved by her tears and by her love. He could not make her a god, since she was mortal, but he wanted to help his favorite nephew find happiness.
He granted the girl a position in the Bureaucracy as the Mistress of Birds. She could not live in the heavens, but he granted that once a year, she could summon all the birds in the Empire and they would form a bridge so she could come to the heavens and spend time with the Nephew. Both the girl and the nephew were very happy with this arrangement, for they could see the wisdom and generosity of the August Personage.
The girl was also given three handmaidens to help her in her service to the Bureaucracy. It was their job to tend to her raiment and to help her with her duties.
They did their job well until one day they met a lame beggar. The beggar showed them marvelous toys, a crystal ball which showed wondrous images of fairy tales, a tin whistle which told tales, and ??. He would give them the gifts if they would but give him some small part of the clothing of the Mistress of Birds. He admired the Mistress greatly and wanted to use the pieces of clothing to weave an enchantment to protect her.
The three girls, thinking they were helping their mistress and eager for the toys, took three feathers from her headress and gave them to the beggar. He thanked them and left them with the toys.
No more was said of their misdeed and the three girls spent happy hours with their toys until the time came for the gathering of the birds. The mistress stood forth and called the birds, but when they came, they saw that she was missing three feathers and they refused to form the bridge, for the headress had been their gift to her.
The mistress has never again been able to cross to the heavens and the handmaidens died knowing that their greed had cost their mistress her happiness.