Once upon a time, a landlord couple gave birth to a daughter when they were rather old so they cosseted her much. Their daughter grew up into a beautiful girl that made her parent treat her more well. They built for her a nice building hired people to collect rare flowers to grow in garden around the building they want their daughter lived in beautiful place as wonderland.
Three foxes living in forest near the place. They had lived for very long time and had studied some magics but they used to use their magics to harm people. They heard about the beautiful girl and wanted to harm her. Therefore, they transformed into a three-petal-flower which looked very strange, one petal was blue, another was white and the other was red. A woodcutter on his way to forest saw the flower standing by road. That was the strangest flower he had ever seen, course, it was also beautiful. The woodcutter dug up and brought the flower to the landlord and got his money. The flower was very strange and beautiful but, the girl didn’t like it. Therefore, their plan was broken. Day by day, the flower turned shriveled. The landlord cut down the flower tree and found out wood of the flower tree was nice. Therefore, he made a sneck on his daughter bedroom door by the wood.
Few days later, while the girl was sleeping, one fox emerged from the sneck. He went to bed and planned to harm her but suddenly the girl woke up, screamed and struggled. The fox knew that he could not easily do anything with her at the time, so he deprived her soul then entered the sneck again. When the landlord couple sprinted to their daughter’s room, their daughter had fainted on her bed. She looked like a dead. They tried to wake her up but she couldn’t wake up her breaths were very weak. Next night, her father stayed by her bed to take care of her but the second fox appeared and brought his soul away. The third night, one person in the building was deprived soul by the third fox. The terrible things frightened the wife of landlord. She immediately invited a mage to go and chase devils. The mage did magic in three days. The landlord and the servant woke up they got again their souls but the girl seemed not to get her soul again the first fox didn’t release her soul. Though the mage had found all way to take back her soul, he couldn’t because the first fox had more power than him. At last, the mage brought his luggage and went away. From that time, the building became the devil house that none dared to approach.
One day when it had been afternoon, a student, named Long, went cross here on the way he went to capital to join in a contest which was held by the king. He saw the nice building and wanted to ask the owner to let him stay in one night. Owners, though they were very hospitable, couldn’t let him stay in.
“I don’t want to hide you our house was possessed devils. You should find other place that help you be safe”, said the landlord.
“I am a student who had ever read holy books that no devil dares to annoy me. Let me stay here one night. Maybe, I can help you exterminate devils”, said Long.
The landlord couple opened the door and let him enter. He had a dinner with them then made his way toward the room they gave him. He asked the landlord to give him a sharpen knife and candles. He lighted candles took his books out to read, the knife he brought on his belt. At midnight, the first fox appeared in a beautiful girl form and seduced him but he kept reading and didn’t give any attention to her, the fox. Short time later, the girl disappeared. Minutes later, the second fox appeared in a woman ghost with long hair covering her face, blood eyes, a foot-long-tongue. She approached him in broken-bones sound, crack and crack. She reached his back by her bone fingers, touched back of his neck by her wet tongue. But, the student as the previous time didn’t care. Later, the second made her way and disappeared.
Then the third fox appeared. He went toward Long’s room but just stepped in the room Long was stayed, he turned back away and screamed.
“Run, hide yourselves at one. Here has…Ouch”
He had no chance to finish his words. Long, the student fastly jumped up and cut him that made him painful and released the soul of the girl at one. Long brought candles to the place and saw a foot of fox on ground. He followed blood drops went toward the room where the girl stayed who now got again her soul and had woken up. He approached her and had a conversation. She thanked him when she knew he was the person who just saved her. Later, he led her to her parent and showed them the foot he got.
The next morning, Long set off. He refused all things the landlord gifted him but he asked them to take the sneck. When he had gone on his way for half day, three foxes showed up and begged him to release them. He laughed:
“All you have magics, don’t you? I want to know what you are going to do as I burn the sneck”, he said.
“Please, don’t. We will gift you our treasures to get one thing, releasing us”, begged foxes.
The first fox gave him a pocket which had a little sun in it.
“Though it is not real son but lighting a country is not its problem. When you untie the pocket this sun will fly up and light and when you tie the pocket this sun will enter the pocket and turn dark”, said the first fox.
The second fox gave him another pocket which held a little moon. It was also used as the little sun, lighting up at night or dark places but it spread gentle light as real moon.
The third fox gave him a horse.
“This horse can run a thousand miles per day. You only need to say where you want to go and the horse will bring you to the place”, said the third fox.
Happily, he threw the sneck into a bush next to road mounted on the horse and said:
“Go home”. The horse chased after winds and at night, they came to his house. He don’t want to wake up his parent went toward his bedroom and woke up his wife. They had a conversation till morning but he want to keep what he had said to his wife in secret. Therefore, he asked his wife to keep secret though their voices made his parent wake up at last night. Early morning, he set off. His parent didn’t know their son came back they believed that his daughter-in-law had a lover. They went to her room and asked her. The wife couldn’t keep the thing in secret anymore so she talked to them all things she had heard, devils, treasures and magical horse. But, how a normal could believed what she said. Therefore, they scoled her bad words. The wife, on other side, couldn’t explain she covered her face by hands and burst into tears. Fortunately, that afternoon Long came back again. All things turned clearly as he talked to them whole story. Saw their son, the horse, they now knew what their daughter-in-law said was true.
“I come home to tell you that I have passed the contest. I will stay home three days and have to go to join in the party the king organize on the fourth day”, he added.
His father wanted to ride the horse when he heard about it.
“Who do you want to go?”, he said.
“You know I dream that I can visit to Dong Nai, Gia Dinh”, said his father.
“It is no problem”, he said.
The next morning, they had their breakfasts after his father set off. His father wore nice clothes, brought a little bag. He gave his father the rein and helped him mount on the horse.
“Gia Dinh”, shouted his father. The horse disappeared from his family’s eyes chased after winds. Nightfall, the horse ran back and landed on yard. His father happily gave them presents he bought in Gia Dinh, talked to them things he saw at the place.
His mother also wanted to go Gia Dinh as she heard things his husband said. The next morning, Long pulled the horse to middle of yard, helped his mother go on the horse. But, that time the horse just ran to their gate then fell down and made his mother be thrown ahead. White smoke emerged from the horse’s body flew up and disappeared. People approached and realized the horse had died. All people understood as they know his mother was in menstruation days that made the horse felt scared left its body to escape.
It was not big problem, losing his horse but he could lose his head because he would not come to castle on time to join king’s party. It took about four or five days to go to the castle from his home. Long, now, had no choice but to go immediately on a normal horse. He didn’t have time to said goodbye them, mounted on a horse and ran.
The horse ran till midnight but it could go no much. He found an inn to rest though he felt very nervous. Suddenly, he remembered to the little sun and caught an idea. The next day, he rode fastly toward castle as the previous day but when the sun downed he untied the pocket. The sun flew up and light up whole country. He forced the horse ran toward castle without rest. When he had gone in the castle he untied the pocket, it turned dark immediately but the party had finished because daytime was too long that made dishes turned cold. Therefore, the king ordered people to eat them before they spoiled.
When he walked into the party, almost people had left. He knew that he could lose his head so he kneeled down front the king and begged violently. He gave the king the reason that he didn’t see the sun downed to get mercifulness. The king forgave him but he forced him to go to the district which was known as a spooky place. Mandarins who had ever gone to the district had died because of devils. Long followed the king’s words went to the district.
According to customs of the place, people would bring presents to their new mandarin. Therefore, the first day he went to the district, people made their way to his office. He refused their gifts and forced soldiers to follow people toward their home in secret. On third day, two people brought gifts to him, he refuse and asked soldiers to follow them. Soldiers followed them but till afternoon they still didn’t come their home. Nightfall, they arrived to a wild well. Suddenly, the people jumped down the well. Soldiers sprinted to see but they disappeared so they ran toward mandarin office to report their mandarin.
The next morning, Long ordered soldiers to dry the well but they couldn’t make the well dried though they had taken water from it for whole day. Days later, they continued took water from the well but they could do nothing different. One night, a soldier who guarded the well heard two devils sitting on bough next to the well talking.
“If more people go to take water out from this well, it will be dried, isn’t it?”, said one of them.
“No, it will not be dried except a dragon takes water from it”, said the other.
The soldier reported the thing to Long.
“I am dragon. I will dry it”, replied Long as he heard the soldier (his name, Long, in Vietnamese means dragon).
Then Long mounted on horse rode to the well. He himself dried the well. Short time later, people could see the bottom of the well. There was a cave in the bottom of the well. People lighted torches went in the cave but torches turned off when they just went in the cave some steps. Long remembered to his little sun. He brought it went in the cave but the devils turned invisible under sunlight so he couldn’t find them. Later, Long took out his little moon. The devils couldn’t be invisible under moonlight they showed up. They were pythons which had long time lives and had some magics and were also the devils harming people in the place before. They immediately were caught. They begged him not to kill them and promised that they would never harm people more. He didn’t kill them but he forced them to do hard works in remote place.
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THE END
"Translator: Hung Nguyen"
Book Introductions
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