Truyện 55. Yết Kiêu

Ngày xưa có một người tên là Yết Kiêu ở làng Hạ-bì làm nghề đánh cá.
Một hôm, ông ta đi dọc theo bờ biển về làng bỗng thấy trên bãi có hai con trâu đang ghì sừng húc nhau dưới bóng trăng khuya. Sẵn đòn ống, ông cầm xông lại phang mạnh mấy cái vào mình chúng nó. Tự dưng hai con trâu chạy xuống biển rồi biến mất. Ông rất kinh ngạc đoán biết là trâu thần. Khi nhìn lại đòn ống thì thấy có mấy sợi lông. Ông cầm lấy và nuốt đi. Từ đó sức khỏe của Yết Kiêu vượt hẳn mọi người, không một ai dám đương địch. Đặc biệt là có tài lội nước. Mỗi lần ông lặn xuống biển bắt cá, người ta cứ tưởng như ông đi trên đất liền. Nhiều khi ông sống ở dưới nước luôn sáu bảy ngày mới lên.
Hồi ấy có quân giặc ở nước ngoài sang cướp nước ta. Chúng cho một trăm chiếc tàu lớn tiến vào cửa biển Vạn-ninh vây bọc, bắt tất cả thuyền bè, đốt phá chài lưới. Đi đến đâu, chúng cướp của giết người gây tang tóc khắp mọi vùng duyên hải. Chiến thuyền nhà vua ra đối địch bị giặc đánh đắm mất cả. Nhà vua rất lo sợ, sai rao trong thiên hạ ai có cách gì lui được giặc dữ sẽ phong cho quyền cao chức trọng.
Yết Kiêu bèn tìm đến tâu vua rằng: "Tôi tuy tài hèn sức yếu nhưng cũng quyết cho lũ chúng nó vào bụng cá". Vua hỏi: - "Nhà ngươi cần bao nhiêu người'? bao nhiêu thuyền bè?" - "Tâu bệ hạ - ông đáp - chỉ một mình tôi cũng có thể đương được với chúng nó". Nhà vua mừng lắm, liền phong cho ông làm Đô thống cầm thủy quân đánh giặc.
Ông đến Vạn-ninh cho quân sĩ nghỉ ngơi, chỉ bảo họ sắm cho mình một cái khoan, một cái búa. Đoạn, một mình ông lặn xuống đáy biển đi ra chỗ tàu giặc. Ông tìm đến đáy tàu vừa khoan, vừa đục. Ông làm rất lẹ và im lặng, tàu giặc cứ đắm hết chiếc này đến chiếc khác. Trong một hôm, chúng bị đắm luôn một lúc hơn hai mươi chiếc. Thấy thế, quân giặc hoảng loạn cả lên. Chúng sai những tên quân có tài bơi lặn lặn xuống nước do thám. Mấy tên quân đó tìm mãi mới thấy Yết Kiêu đang khoan một chiếc tàu. Bọn chúng xông lại nhưng chúng đâu có phải là địch thủ của ông, cho nên cuối cùng ông không để cho một đứa nào trở về.
Quân giặc vô cùng sợ hãi. Mãi về sau tên tướng giặc đem một cái ống dòm thủy tinh có phép nhìn được thấu qua nước đến đáy biển. Chúng thấy ông đi lại thoăn thoắt như đi trên bộ. Chúng bèn đem cái vó bằng sắt nhân lúc ông đang mải đục một chiếc tàu, buông xuống chụp lấy ông. Nhờ thế chúng bắt sống được Yết Kiêu. Lập tức chúng tra khảo ông: "Trong nước mày những người lặn như mày có bao nhiêu người?".
Ông bảo chúng: "Không kể những người đi lại dưới nước suốt 10 ngày không lên, còn như hạng ta thì một trăm chiếc tàu của chúng bay cũng không thể chở hết. Hiện giờ ở dưới đó hết lớp này xuống lại lớp kia lên không mấy khi vắng người".
Nghe nói thế, bọn giặc kinh sợ cuối cùng chúng dỗ dành: "Mày muốn tốt phải đưa chúng tao đi bắt sẽ có hậu thưởng, bằng không thì sẽ giết chết".
"Được, theo ta, ta chỉ cho!".
Quân giặc tưởng thật, bắt ông cùng với mười tên quân đem vó sắt ngồi trên thuyền nhỏ ra biển dò tìm. Thừa lúc chúng vô ý, ông nhảy tòm xuống nước trốn đi. Chúng nó trông nhau ngơ ngác. Bấy giờ quân giặc đã bị thiệt hại khá nặng, lại nghe Yết Kiêu nói nước Nam có nhiều người tài lặn nên cuối cùng chúng đành phải quay tàu trở về không dám quấy nhiễu nữa.
Nhà vua mừng quá, khen ngợi Yết Kiêu vô cùng, phong ông làm đại vương. Sau khi ông mất, mọi người nhớ ơn lập đền thờ ở cửa Vạn-ninh và ở nhiều cửa biển khác.

Xem thêm các truyện khác tại đây:
Danh sách truyện cổ tích Việt nam
Truyện 53. Ông Ồ
Truyện 54. Âm dương giao chiến
Truyện 56. Sự tích thánh Chèm
Truyện 57. Bảy Gia, Chín Quỳ
Truyện 58. Người ả đào với giặc minh
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Vietnamese fairy tales
Vietnamese historical stories

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List of Vietnamese fairy tales

Vietnamese fairy tales includes many stories as Tam and Cam; So Dua; Hundred – knot- bamboo tree... which were spread in folk. Each stories has its own meaning. I think I can not translate exactly each word into english but I will try my best to convey its meaning to you. Hope you like them!

Wishing pearl

De was a young boy. His parent was servants of a landlord. Every morning, De led landlord’s cattle to meadow and brought them back at nightfall. De used to be excited in playing with his fellows and when he was in his game he didn’t care anything. Many times the cattle he herded ate rice on field and the owners used to beat him pained but he still left cattle and joined in his fellows. One normal day, he and his fellows had a swimming competition. An award was given to the winner that he couldn’t refuse. Therefore, he participated in the competition and left his cattle on a wild hill. They swam and dived in water until noon and when they walked on ground, a cow had disappeared. The cow belonged to no one but his master. Children separated to find the cow but the cow seemed to vanish they couldn’t find it. Sun was going to down, children made their ways to home they left De staying at there. Day stayed at there alone crying. After that, he fell in sleep. Latter, he was woken up b...

God of blacksmiths and blacksmith

Khong Lo, the god of blacksmiths, was the god who had taught people casting and also the go who governed blacksmiths. Khong Lo early realized that not all blacksmiths were good guy so he used to appear on ground and challenge blacksmiths. A street blacksmith who used to shoulder tools wander on street and helped people remold metal things. “Mold pots, mold jars, mold tray, remold metal things”, he cried to let others know he was a blacksmith. The blacksmith was great so he could mold and remold all things people needed in short time. In the time he worked he stayed in house of people who needed him to mold things. When things were molded, he got his money and set off. That was his work. One day, the blacksmith made his way to a fair. He went cross a forest and met a boy who was shouldering tools as he was. As he saw the blacksmith, the stood and bowed his head politely. “Do you see anybody go cross the direction you have passed, sir?”, said the boy. “Who do you find?”...

Thanh Giong

Once upon a time, a woman was old but she had not given birth a child. One day, when she went to her field, she saw a stranger footsore on the ground. The big footsore made her surprise and said: “omg, this footsore is so big” the she put her foot into the footsore. More 9 months later, she gave birth to a little boy named Giong. The boy was extraordinary that he was over three years old but had not spoken. He only knew lying and smiling. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com That year, the enemies they were known An planed to attack the country of the boy. They were merciless. Wherever they had gone, houses were ruined, fields were fired, people were killed. The sight behind them is mess of corpse and blood and ashes.The King was worry he forced his servants to look for person who could fight against the enemies. One day, a servent went to Giong’s village while the woman was holding the boy in her arms, she said sadly that: “Giong, I wonder that when you hav...

Thi Kinh Bodhisattva

A person had been born times, lived other lives. Each time being born, the person was always a monk or a nut, lived with strong religious belief. She or he had passed nine lives but still didn’t reach Nirvana. At the tenth, the person was reborn in the form of a girl. She was daughter of a normal family who lived in Cao Ly and her name was Thi Kinh. Thi Kinh was a calm, kind-hearted girl. She was the person who loved her mother and father, using to help them homework. When she grew up, he parent let her married with a student whose name’s Thien Si. Thien Si was born in normal family, not richer than her family but he was very hard in studying. Therefore, Thi Kinh had nothing more pleased than undertaking all homework for her husband to have time to study. One normal night, Thien Si sat on floor reading book while his wife, Thi Kinh, was staying by sewing. Front their face was only an oil lamp. Later, Thien Si felt tired, he laid down his head was on his wif...

The Tale of the Hundred - knot Bamboo tree

Once upon a time, there had a boy who was poor, had no field. Therefore, he found the way to work for a landlord. He was healthy, worked hard and great in working so the landlord wanted him to work for him long time without any pay. One day, he called the boy to come. "You are honest and healthy. If you agree to work for me in three years without pay, I will let you marry with my only daughter after that." The boy agreed. He believed completely. He worked very hard, help the landlord turn richer that he could build more houses, buy more fields and cattles. Then, time passed. Three years nearly crossed, the boy always remembered his master's promise while his master, the landlord didn't want to do his promise. He in secret had found another boy for his daughter, a son of another landlord in that area. Therefore, what he need was a reason to refuse the boy. One day, he called the boy to come. "You have worked very hard for three years, waken early, slept late....

So dua - Coconut boy

Once upon a time, there in a village had a couple who worked as servants for a landlord. Although they were over fifty years old, they had ever not had a child. They were sad about that, but they had never given up to dream about a child. One day, it's a very hot day, when the wife was working in the field and felt very thirsty. She seeked for water, but she didn't see any but a little water in a skull which was in a hole beside an ancient tree. She had no choice but to drink it. Right the moment she drank, the feeling of cold water running from her throat to her stomach made her felt very comfortable. As a magic, she was pregnant after that short time. Then, the husband died before he got the happiness looking his child be born. After nine months and ten days, the wife gave birth a son but he didn't look like any child on the world. He had no feet, no leg, and even no body. He just had a head with full of eyes, nose, ear, hair and mouth on it. He didn't ugly but was ...

Tale of sandcrab

Once upon a time, a farm couple had a garden having a cave in where a snake couple lived. The man’s name was Da Trang (name of a kind of crabs) he used to work next to the cave and had known a snake couples were living in. Vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com One day, he saw male snake swept out of the cave alone while the female was curling inside the cave, it had just shed. A short time later, the male came back to cave, brought a fog and gave it to female. Weeks later, he saw the female went out alone. That time, the male shed it was lying silently in the cave. Long time later, the female came back with another male. They had stood front of cave for few minutes then the other male swept alone to cave. The man realized what that male wants to do and he felt sorry to the male was lying in cave so he grabbed his archery and shot to the other male but the arrow lost its way and shot into the female head. The female was died. He came home and had never gone back ...

Fairy Lieu Hanh

Ngoc Hoang, the king of gods in heaven, had a daughter, named Lieu Hanh. Lieu Hanh was fairy who was headstrong and usually didn’t obey rules in heaven. Ngoc Hoang had advised her many times but he still did what she wanted. Therefore, Ngoc Hoang decided to punish his daughter to teach her a lesson. One time, Lieu Hanh made a mistake, his father forced her to get down and lived on ground three years. Lieu Hanh transformed into a beautiful girl and built a hut, sold tea under Ngang pass after she landed on ground. The place was wild trees that grew up luxuriantly but the road leading from north to south crossed there so many travelers crossed there everyday. Besides, there had only a tea shop because others feared robbers and beasts around the place. Consequently, her tea shop was always crowded. Though Lieu Hanh was punishing, she was still arrogant and didn’t respect any rules. Therefore, people went in her hut, drank tea then went away without trouble, would have no harm...

Vietnamese fairy tales

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