Chan Tinh

Once upon a time, the place where people lived was arid and cramped that made people’s lives turn difficult. One day, Buddha appeared and made an island emerge from middle of the sea, fertile and fresh. The island fast became dream area where people came and lived.

But, there had a cruel monster, Chan Tinh, living in sea under their island. Chan Tinh was huge, looked like a snake but it had feet. It has an enormous mouth which was large enough to swallow three people one time and there had a horn on top of its head. Its body was covered by hard purple scales. It used to appear with two underlings, a python and a crocodile that both of them were cruel as it. They destroyed things on their ways, killed and gulped people and left when they filled full of their stomaches.

October every year was their favorite time because that time people living in the island had a festival to thanked Buddha and also celebrated for their great harvest. The festival took place in few days that people sang, danced and drank whole days. When people caught off guard most, the monster and its underlings appeared. They emerged from the sea, gently approached people and swallowed anyone they met on their ways. Course, people was warned and that was the time they started destroying things, playing their favorite game, chased after crying people. Only people who hid themselves in the Buddha temple could have themselves safe. When the monsters left, people went out their hiding places, made their ways to find their relatives. That was normal that someone lost her on him father, mother, his wife or her husband. Cry covered whole the island that was pitiful sight.

Buddha appeared and gave human a sword.

“Be brave! It is not scary if you have brave”, said Buddha.

The next time, when Chan Tinh thundered and chased after people, a person screamed ran toward it and cut strongly on its foot. Its foot was cut off, Chan Tinh roared, turned back and escaped. People yelled. They cheered because that was the first time they could expel Chan Tinh from their land. They moved toward the person who had cut off the monster’s foot and surprised that the person was no one but the widow who was known as the gentlest woman in the place.

But, where Chan Tinh lived there had a magical stream which could cure all injuries. Only one night, at the place its foot was cut off grew up a new foot. Therefore, the next morning, it brought its underlings back to revenge.

That time, people were warned by Buddha. They heated a large iron ball and waited for the monster. The monsters chased after people madly as it landed on ground. While people were running to very direction, the widow prevented Chan Tinh.

“Stop! Stooop!” she shouted, “If you can roar as well as thunder, I will ask people to bring themselves to you”.

“Better than thunders”, it said.

Then, it opened its mouth largely and roared. The widow fastly threw the iron ball into its mouth. The ball heated its mouth and made it pained. It rolled on ground, tried to spit out the ball. Later, it set off, turned back its place to have its mouth cured in the magical stream.

The next morning, it came back again. That time, Buddha had directed people to kill Chan Tinh and its underlings. Buddha told them to make a trap that was a deep, large hole which was dug on ground. The hole was filled full of thorns, sharpen. The hole was hid under grasses that made it looked like other places. Chan Tinh and its underlings emerged.

“Today will be the day all people in this place died”, it frightened.

But, people seemed not scared. They grabbed spears and seemed to plan to fight against it and its underlings. The monsters sprinted toward them.

“Bump! Bump!”

They fell down in the trap as fast as the way they ran toward people. The thorns went through the bodies and keep them hardly in the hole. So pained, the monsters roared and tried to escape. The madly waved their bodies to escape the place but that just made them get more pain and bleeding. Fastly, people rounded them. While some people smashed on the parts of the monsters’ bodies which weren’t in the hole, the others took rocks, their spears and threw toward their heads in the hole. Later, the monsters were killed and people, from that time, could peacefully live their lives without any annoying.

THE END

"Translator: Hung Nguyen"

Book Introductions

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2. Vietnamese Fairy Tales - Stories in English and Vietnamese

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3. The Treasury of Fables

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Tale 143: The hole contains gold or the hole contains silver

Tale 144: The heir

Tale 146: The tale of tiger

Tale 147: Ghost revenge

Tale 148: Snake revenge

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Truyện cổ tích Việt nam (For people who can read Vietnamese)

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