Skip to main content

Tu Uyen and magical picture

Once upon a time, a poor student who lost his parent who he was so young. The student lived in Bich Chau district a place located in the south of Thang Long capital. Though he had never gotten pass competitions held by the king to find out talents who would become mandarins and serve the country, he still was called Tu Uyen (the title was used to called people who had high scores in the competitions) because of his wide knowledge. 
vietnamese fairy tales
vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com
One day which was a spring day, Ngoc Ho temple held a festival which attracted many young people, young girl and young boy. Tu Uyen didn’t waste the chance he came to the place to find for himself a girl. He wandered till afternoon and sat under a tree in the temple to rest.  Incidentally, a leaf dropped cross his face lightly as if it wanted to say him “grab me”. The leaf dropped on the ground so Tu Yen could pick up. A poem but it seemed to be a teaser was sent to him him was written in the leaf. He looked around to find the author. While he was scanning, he realized a young girl in the crowd leaving out temple looked toward him. He approached her and made a conversation. They both parted the crowd and went together. They were happy and Tu Yen seemed to have something bloomed inside that he seemed to fall in love with the beautiful girl, the girl who was front his face. Though that the road which they went on would have no end but, when they nearly arrived to Quang Van hall the girl disappeared. Tu Yen had stood at the place for long time he waited, waited for the girl to appear one more time but, she had not. Tu Uyen came back his home at midnight.
From that time, he only thought about the girl. He neglected studying, including eating and drinking he also didn’t care. Then he heard that Bach Ma temple was sacred, he immediately found the way to come and prayed the god in the temple to help. He slept in the temple but that was his luck. The god showed up in his dream and said:
“Boy, listen my words carefully. Tomorrow, you have to go to Dong bridge. When you come there, I will give you a good thing”
Tomorrow, he came to place as the god had said. He had waited for long tine till he saw an old man. The old man went and gave him a picture, a picture drew a girl then he disappeared. Tu Yen took the picture, he unrolled the picture and he couldn’t keep himself not to be surprised as he saw the girl who he wanted to meet was on the picture. He brought the picture and hung it on wall next to the place he sat.
Every day, when he ate, he brought out two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks. He turned to the picture and invited her as if she was real. Though, he had a little surprise when he noticed her cheek went red each time he did that.
One day, Tu Yen came back after class and was very surprised as he saw food and drinks which looked delicious had been set on his table and seemed to wait for him. Though he had many doubt, he sat down and enjoyed them at one because of hunger. Later days, the thing happened as the day. He was happy but also couldn’t force himself not to find out the person who had done the thing.
One day, he pretended as if he went to school but really he hid himself near his house and observed. Through the hole on door he saw the girl went out from the picture. The girl started cleaning and cooking. When she turned her way to go kitchen. Tu Uyen immediately broke in and grabbed her hand. He said in happiness:
“Do you know”, “how long I have waited for you? Now, I will never let you escape from me.”
Then Tu Yen grabbed the picture which, now, was empty and tore it.
The girl’s cheeks went red. She said with pretty anger:
“Why do you treat me that. I have lived in your house that you could not tear the picture to prevent I disappear”.
Then they spent long time talking. She was Giang Kieu, a fairy living in heaven. The fate set her to find him and marry with him. Tu Uyen was very happy that he insisted her to marry with him at one.
“I will hold a party and invited my friend coming and joining with us”, said Giang Kieu. Then she do a magic and changed his house to became a mansion with many servants who was hurriedly to prepare the party. Later, all things were ready. Fairies who flew down from the sky joined the party. They sang, danced and drank in whole the party that was the happiest party Tu Uyen had ever participated. Course, the fairies left in the next morning.
Tu Uyen had seemed to be lazy since he had wife. He stayed by his wife all day and besides, he liked to drink. Giang Kieu had advised him many times but he didn’t change. He had not gone to school for three years and especially, he was addicted to wine. He used to scold his wife whenever he had drunk. Giang Kieu was very angry.
One day, Tu Uyen came back from a pub. Giang Kieu helped his husband go to bed then waited for him sleeping. Then, she went out and few toward heaven.
When Tu Uyen woke up and realized his wife had left. He felt remorseful. He had cried painfully for a month, not cared about eating and drinking though his friends tried their best to advise him. He had thought about killing himself many times. And that time, he did. But, as he just threw rope through bough and nearly set his head in the rope, a light wind blew toward him which brought Giang Huong’s aroma. He turned back and saw Giang Huong. Was very happy as he saw her again, he swore that he would not reach on any drop of wine. The couple turned back to live with the other, happy.
Later, Giang Kieu gave birth to a son who grew up very fast and was intelligent.
One night, two cranes flew down the sky and landed on their yard. They came to take them up heaven. The couple turned in their home said goodbye their son then mounted the cranes and flew up heaven.
THE END
"Translated by Hung Nguyen"

Book Introductions

1. Complete Collection of Vietnamese Fairy Tales - A Treasury of Legends and Folklore

Discover over 240 enchanting Vietnamese fairy tales, translated into English and beautifully illustrated. This collection is a treasure trove of legends and folklore that reflect Vietnam's rich cultural heritage. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

2. Vietnamese Fairy Tales - Stories in English and Vietnamese

This bilingual collection features 162 Vietnamese fairy tales in both English and Vietnamese, with stunning illustrations. Ideal for language learners and cultural enthusiasts. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

3. The Treasury of Fables

An enchanting collection of timeless fables, written in English and beautifully illustrated. Perfect for all ages, these stories offer valuable moral lessons. Available as an ebook on: Kobo, Apple Books

Ebook Banner

Essential Reads: Engaging Books You Can't Miss!

Read more:
-----

Comments

BÀI ĐĂNG ĐƯỢC XEM NHIỀU

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!

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....

Tu Thuc and wonderland

A  boy, named Tu Thuc, lived in Tran dynasty. He was offspring of a mandarin and was taught carefully. When he was 20 years old, he got passed all contests the king organized. So, he was appointed to be district mandarin. Not like other mandarins he liked freedom, hated rules. He also didn’t like to swarm others. He liked to drink, do poetry and go sightseeing. A large temple stood in the area he managed. Peonies were grown in temple’s garden and they bloomed in every January that was also the time the temple had a Buddhist festival. Many people from anywhere gathered at there as the festival started. Tu Thuc had heard about the festival and wanted to go to there one time. He put on normal clothes that helped him not to be realized by others. He went alone to the temple. That time, Buddhism was national religion of the country so monks were people who had high positions. Monks set a rule that anyone who picked up flowers or broke boughs would be paid for that and if they ha...

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...

Crow and Peacock

Once  upon a time, both Crow and Peacock were best friends and had same feather colors, gray. They knew themselves were ugly so they didn’t appear front of other birds. Peacock in Crow’s eyes was uglier than him because Peacock had a small head and a long neck that they didn’t connect to his body. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com One day, Crow talked Peacock: “A painter was painting nearly so we should come and steal some colors to paint on our feathers and make it beautiful” said Crow Peacock bowed his head. That day, the painter hadn’t finished his picture so he left his jar of colors on ground and took a nap. The first time, they stole a paintbrush and some jars then hid them on mound middle lake nearly. The second, they planned to go and steal again but the panter had woken up and came his home so they only took a jar of ink and a pocket of purl he had left. “Right, we start painting, yet” said Crow Crow made Peacock lie down and began painting. Crow painted v...

Bài 1.5: Cách sử dụng at, on, in cho thời gian, ngày, tháng, năm, mùa.

Chào các bạn! Bởi vì mình có hay dich truyện và một vài thứ linh tinh khác nên thường bắt gặp ngày, tháng năm. Thật ra khôngkhó để sử dụng đúng nhưng mỗi lần cần đến mình lại phải tra lại tra cứu. Điều đó rất mất thời gian nên hôm nay mình viết một bài liên quan đến at, on, in + thời gian để giúp bạn nào chưa biết và giúp chính mình nhớ được cách sử dụng của các giới từ at, on, in và dạng thời gian được theo sau giới từ đó.

Thuong Luong

Thuong Luong was common name of creatures which are in people’s imagines. They are distant relatives of dragons. While dragons are worshiped as gods, the gods ruled rivers and sea and the gods can make rains, Thuong Luong is not respected as dragons that the creatures are too amorous, combative, wild, and have bad behaviors. All most of them like to harm people.

Announcing New Ebook Collections: Dive into the Magical World of Vietnamese Fairy Tales

Hello Dear Readers, My name is Hung Nguyen, and I am the proud owner of the blog  Vietnamese Fairy Tales . First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all my readers who have followed and supported me throughout the years. Your passion for Vietnamese culture, particularly Vietnamese fairy tales, has been a tremendous source of inspiration. In my journey to share the rich and enchanting world of Vietnamese folklore, I have carefully curated and published three remarkable books that I believe will captivate your imagination and enrich your understanding of our cultural heritage. These books have been designed to reach a broader audience, and they are now available in ebook format on Kobo and Apple Books. 1. Complete Collection of Vietnamese Fairy Tales - A Treasury of Legends and Folklore ($15) Dive into the magical world of Vietnamese fairy tales with this comprehensive collection. This book includes a vast array of stories that have been passed down th...

Danh sách truyện cổ tích việt nam

Dưới  đây là những câu truyện cổ tích chắc có lẽ chỉ quen thuộc với mọi người. Bởi lẽ, ngày nay chúng ta đã quá quen với các phương tiện giải trí khác như smart phone, internet có thể dễ dàng cập nhật những bộ phim hay, trò chơi điện tử hấp dẫn. Những câu truyện cổ tích vì vậy không còn quá nhiều sức hấp dẫn đối với chúng ta. Tuy nhiên, mỗi câu chuyện ở đây đều mang trong mình một ý nghĩa riêng. Nếu bạn là người yêu thích những thứ liên quan tới văn hóa dân gian Việt nam; từng một lần ghé qua đây, hãy đọc những câu chuyện dưới đây và nhận lấy cho mình một ý nghĩa trong mỗi câu chuyện dưới đây.