The tale of "Cây nêu"

Once upon a time, when demons were owners of the ground, so people who wanted picking up had to be allowed by them. But the demons treated people harder each year they forced people had to give them more and more. At last they made people had to give them things which they wanted. One year, demons asked people that they wanted to receive tree tops and people had to get roots. People in other side didn’t agree with them but they forced people to follow their words by their strength. Therefore, that year after harvesting, people only got roots of rice. The sight of famine appeared everywhere. While demons were happy, people in other hand felt in misery.

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The Buddha who came from the west wanted to help people attacked demons. The Buddha said people to plant potato in the next year.

Followed the Buddha’s words they planted potatoes but the demons didn’t know the thing they still requested people give them tree tops. So that year they had to stand in the field seeing people took carts, stacked full of potatoes, heavily to their home. Remaining things for them was potatoes wire potato stems, tough and acrid, which they couldn’t eat.

Other next year, demons that time requested people to take top trees and left for them roots. Of course Buddha also help people, he talked people planted rice. Therefore, another time demons couldn’t eat anything from roots of rice. They very very angry when they saw people pulled full of carts of rice.

Therefore, next year demons wanted to have both roots and tree tops from which people planted. They thought that whatever people planted would belong to them at the end of harvest but the Buddha gave people a new kind of seeds. The buddha give them corn seeds. People dropped them everywhere.

That year, another time people was happy when they could take carts which were stacked full of corn. Demons, in other hand, were so angry that made them have a decision. They decided they wanted people returned all of fields. They thought: “If we don’t have anything to eat people also can’t have anything”.

Another time, the Buddha talked them that they came to meet and got an agreement. People said: “We want a piece of ground which was big as the shadow of the Buddha’s robe. That mean people would stand a bamboo, hung the robe on the top of the tree so the place which was spread by shadow of the robe would belong people. First, demons didn’t agree but they thought to the Buddha then they agreed. They thought: “It is so cheap, a plot was big as a shadow of robe.”

After people stood the bamboo, the Buddha stood on the top, spread his robe then he made the tree was higher and higher until the tree reached to the sky. Suddenly the ground was covered by shadow. Demons were surprised. Of course they had to avoid wherever the shadow spread. They walked backward until the whole ground was covered by shadow. They didn’t have place to stay had to hid themselves in the sea. But as you know demons didn’t forget feud they grouped forcing to attack people.

Following demons was elephants, horses, tigers, snakes, wolves which were very horrid but people had Buddha’s helping. Therefore, demons could land their feet on the ground and had to come back the sea.

After failure, demons forced their servant to find out weakness of Buddha. They knew the Buddha scared fruit, bananas, rice and boiled eggs. The Buddha also knew demons scared dog blood, pineapple leaves, garlics and lime flour.

After having information, the first fighting, demons forced their soldiers to throw fruit toward the Buddha but it didn’t make injured. The Buddha said people took up fruit to home and stored to eat then splashed dog blood toward demons that made them frightened, sprinted toward the sea.

Second fighting, demons brought bananas, threw to the Buddha. Another time the Buddha talked people picked up bananas to eat and threw garlic to demons. They were frightened and another time they had to run back the sea.

Third time, demons threw rice and boiled eggs to the Buddha but which, anther time, became food for people. That time, people followed the Buddha’s words, threw lime flour to demons and grabbed pineapple leaves whipped demons. They run as fast as they could the sea. That time, the Buddha used his power made demons live in the sea.

Living in the sea was miserable. They became haggard because of starvation. They prayed the Buddha to come back the ground few days each year. The Buddha felt sorry them, he let them come back the ground few days in Tet holidays.

Therefore, in the Tet holiday people always stood a bamboo with a robe on the top which made demons didn’t dare to come nearly. The tree was called, "Cây nêu"

THE END

"Translated by Hung Nguyen"

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