Once upon a time, there had a sixty-year-old man, Le. Le was wealthy but he didn’t have son he had only a daughter. Besides, his wife had died so the girl was his only relative. When his daughter grew up, she married with a man in that area. Bui was his son-in-law and he married with his daughter because of his wealth. Le also thought that he would give them his assets when he died.
“Now, I am over sixty years old, too old to give birth to any child. Son or daughter is also my child so that he or she also can be the heir”, thought him. And his intent turned more certain as his daughter had a son.
One day, he went to his Bui’s house to meet his grandchild he now was three years old. While he was talking with Bui’s father, the grandchild approached the father of Bui and said:
“Grandpa! Com-- in eat”.
“Oh my sweet grandchild”, said the father of his son-in-law, joking “What about him? Do you want to invite him?”
The child shook his head and ran toward his grandpa, the person he felt familiar. Le was strange to him. Though the other asked him few times more, he didn’t invite Le.
“He is very rich. If you invite him, he will give you a lot of money”, joked Bui’s father.
But, the child didn’t change his mind. Though that thing wasn’t thing he needed to notice because his grandchild was too little to know who his relatives were but he was unhappy. He thought about the things which happened recently and things had happened for long time ago which helped him realized something.
“My son-in-law and his father only want my assets”, he thought, “No. I won’t let it happen, gifting my assets which I have worked hard to have to them”.
Days later, he turned upset which wasn’t like him in usual. He intended to divide his assets to his neighbors and distant relatives but he stopped the intent immediately.
“I have a daughter so it is stupid if I do that”, thought him.
At last, he thought about the idea he had never thought about. “Maybe, I should have a new wife”.
Short time later, people were surprised as he saw him marry with a widow living in the next village.
After three years, the widow gave birth to a son that made him very happy. He loved his son very much and treated the little boy better than anyone. But, he early realized the way his son-in-law, Bui, looked at his little son he gave his son vindictive eyes whenever he visited and that made him scare.
“I have no long time to live and my son is too little to protect himself. On other hand, my son-in-law is cruel that he doesn’t hesitate to harm my son and usurps all things”, he thought, “My God, my son was in danger”. Then he started thinking how to protect his son.
No one could explain why he suddenly treated his wife and his son coldly. Then, people rumored about the name he gave his son, Phi it seemed to hint that the boy wasn’t his son because Phi also meant not.
“He is not his son”.
“Yeah. It must be”.
“Fortunately, he realized the thing at last”.
“How can he give birth to a son at his age, seventy years old?” They were what people told after him.
But, the more people rumored, the more he felt happy.
Until the day he dead, no one heard him talk about who the heir was. He only left them a paper with some words and it looked like he didn’t finish.
“Senventy one give birth to him not(Phi) my son my assets give him my son-in-law outsider not allowed to have them”.
People didn’t know the words, Phi, in the paper meant the name of his son, Phi, or not. There was nothing clear. But, after they buried him, his son-in-law usurped almost his assets that he only left the widow and the little boy a hut and some barren fields.
Actually, before Le died, he called his wife and his little son to his bedroom. He gave them a wooden statue which sculptured a human. The statue had a hand pointed ahead but the little finger on the hand pointed at the opposite side, at the belly of the statue. He directed them.
“Don’t protest them though they come and usurped all things. You have to wait for Phi to grow up. That time, you can meet a wise mandarin and request him to judge”.
He stopped breathing after that.
Years passed the little son, now, was an eighteen-year-old man. They had lived normal lives without complaining a word so that no one knew that they had cried very much, had crossed many difficulties.
One day, the widow heard a news that a wise mandarin was going to come their area. The mandarin always listened people’s aspirations whenever he came to a new place to rule. Besides, he didn’t scare landlord or nobles.
So happy the widow brought his statue to the mandarin, told him her husband’s direction and also told him how they lived after her husband died, poor and miserable. The mandarin looked at the statue but he couldn’t understand what it hinted. Therefore, he requested her to go home and came back after three days.
The mandarin spent much time observing the statue and thinking.
“Here is nothing different”, he thought, “It may be. The little finger point at belly that something could be hid in it”.
He shook and knocked on the statue. Course, there had space inside the statue. Later, he found a hole and all things were clear when he found the real testament inside the statue. The testament indicated that the heirs were the widow and his son, Phi, but his son-in-law.
The next morning, he called Bui to his office. He ordered Bui to give all documents relating to Le’s assets. All things Bui gave him only the paper Le left as he died. The mandarin took the testament inside the statue out and judged clearly.
“The aspiration of Le was giving all his assets to his son, Phi and his wife, the mother of his son. The words on this paper also meant that. Why you dared to usurp them?”, said the mandarin, grabbing the paper and read, “seventy years old I gave birth him, Phi, my son. I give him all assets. My son-in-law was outsider, not allowed to have them”. He stopped, looking at Bui and shouted:
“How you dared to understand in another sense to usurp things man? You have to return them all thing you had taken from them and besides, things you had gotten from the assets for eighty years”.
Bui couldn’t speak. He only knew to obey the mandarin’s judgment. The widow and the son after that had things they deserved to have that they could live in wealth till they died.
THE END
"Translator: Hung Nguyen"
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