Skip to main content

Servant and thief

Once upon a time, two boys loved a girl and they went to the girl’s house at same time to ask her to marry with one of them. While the girl was wondering who she should marry with, they went to a restaurant together and negotiated.  
The first person said that his name was Luc Tran and he worked for a landlord in village. Because he was friendly, the second person didn’t hesitate to say that he was Don Le and he was a   thief. Though, none wanted to give up the girl. At last, they decided to have a competition and the person who lost would give up
vietnamese fairy tales
vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com
Do Le brought Luc Tran to his home and tread him well. That night, Do Le asked Luc Tran to follow him. They wandered few villages. At last, they stopped front of a house. Do Le said:
“People living in the house were not rich but they have just had new bride. So, I will take the dess which the bride was dressing”.
Then Do Le climbed over fence, opened the gate and let Luc Tran wen in. They climbed up the roof that made Luc Tran felt nervous. Do Le observed around then he turned to Luc Tran and said:
“This house has two doors. One is guarded by a dog and the other, a man is sharpening rattan. It is rather difficult to go in but I have had a plan”.
Do Le went down and sneaked in a corner. Rattan lines the man was sharpening were long, from the man to the end of yard. Do Le grabbed and pulled slightly. The man missed and cut on his finger. The man held his finger.
“Tut! Tut! Tut!”, said the man.
The dog heard the voice, thought that its master called. It ran to him, waved its tail. Caught the chance, Do Le dragged Luc Tran went in the house. They found the way to go in the room where the bride and the groom were. The bride and the groom were sleeping. Do Le found an egg   and broke and wet the bed by white yolk. Later, the bride turned her body and lied on wet places. White yolk permeated on her dress and made her wake up. She found the way to change the dress then turn to her bed and continued sleeping. Do Le took the dress at one then he turned Luc Tran.
“They can not realize if we only steal a dress so i will steal other thing to let them know”.
Then he opened bride’s jewelry box and took some things and went away. Luc Tran gave Do Le praise but he also insisted Do Le to come his house, course that was his master’s house. Do Le had a little hesitation.
“Your master will not be satisfied as I come, will he?”, said Do Le.
Luc Tran laughed. He said:
“Yes, he will. My master is rude but you don’t need to worry. I will mke him treat you well”.
When they nearly arrived to house. Luc Tran turned to Do Le and said:
“My master was bad-tempered. So, I will make him climb the roof twice that can help him calm before met you. Course, I will make him let me have some days off to treat you. Wait me a while here and see till I come back and invite you to come in”.   
Do Le stood out and looked in and observed .Luc Tran went toward warehouse, carried ladder and set it onto the roof then used his feet to leave footprints on the wall, on the ladder and on the roof; after that Luc Tran turned his way to go in house. Later, his master frantically went out, he asked Luc Tran”
“Climb up and look around.”
Luc Tran followed his master’s word. He climbed on the roof but his master didn’t trust him, he took of his shirt, climbed on to see by his eyes. Because of his skepticism, he climbed up one more time to observe again.
Later, while Do Le was sitting under tree and waiting for Luc Tran, Luc Tran went to him and said happily:
“Today, I was allowed to stay home and repair fance. I said him that you are my best friend. Don’t worry about any thing. As he asks you about your job, you only need say that you are a soldier and in days off”.
Firstly, the master showed that he didn’t respect Do Le but when he heard that Do Le was a soldier he seemed to respect him more much. He hurriedly asked servants to prepare meal and treated Do Le very well.
  The competition finished. Do Le thought that he was better then Luc Tran but Luc Tran didn’t agree. At last, they went to a teacher to ask him for result.
They said the teacher whole their competition. They asked: “Please, give us your thinking that who is the person who deserves to be the girl’s husband”.
“Those are two cats and both of them used to sneak food but one sneaked from its master and the other sneaked from neighbors. You think which cat is better?”, asked the teacher
They thought a little then both of them said that the cat which sneaked from its master was better.
“So, who is better in you two. A person who could make his master follow his word or a thief who steal from others. Besides, using intelligence to steal things is not good thing. Therefore, I think you, Do Le, should give up.”, said the teacher.
They left teacher’s house. Do Le was pleasant to give up and besides, they became best friends after that.
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
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!

My Chau and Trong Thuy

Once upon a time, there had a king, named An Duong Vuong. After many years fighting, he get a large area. The king planed to build a castle but whenever it had been built as tall as a men’s height then it was ruined. The king was unhappy. Therefore, the king had made an altar to pray God for few days until an early morning, a old man from seaside went to talk him God Turtle was going come to help him. The king was very happy and forced soldiers to wait on the seaside. The next day, in the water appeared a big gold turles toward seaside. The soldiers invited God Turtle to set sat on a big gold platter and brought to the king. The God Turtle told the king that the castle couldn’t have finished because of demons. God Turtle helped the king to kill the demons so all demons was killed. Besides, the God Turtle help the king design a castle look like a seashell with many gate levels. Half a month later, the castle had been finished. The king was very pleased but a little worry. He a...

Yet Kieu

Once  upon a time, in Ha-bi village lived a man named Yet Kieu who worked as a fisher. One night, while he was strolling along the seaside he saw two large buffaloes fighting on the beach. He sprinted to poke them apart. Buffalos were beaten painful they ran toward to the sea then disappeared. “Those creatures aren’t normal”, he thought then he turned back where buffaloes had been fighting and picked up some fur they had left. He gazed them then suddenly swallowed them down. From that he had the strength that nobody could fight against. Especially, he could stay in the water longer than any people in the world. He spent six or seven days fishing whenever he dived in water. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com That moment, their enemies had an invasion. A hundred ships approached and covered seaside of Van  ninh. They caught all fishing boats and fired them. They robbed assets and took lives from people living around the beach. Warships following king of the countr...

The Tale of God of Kitchen

Once  upon a time, a couple was so poor that they didn’t have any acres of farm-land. Therefore they had to work for others. Although their lives were very difficult, they were still pleased. After working, they used to sit by fireplace and talk tales or sing to each other. One year, fields had produced rice less than years before. Everyone was not enough rice to eat so they couldn’t hire them. Therefore, they had to go fishing, dig and pick up vegetables to eat. But it didn’t help them much, they still felt hungry. One day, the man said: “Honey, I have to leave. If I still stay at home, we will die”. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com After hearing, the woman insisted to go with him but the man said her: “I still don’t know where I should go and what I would do. You should stay home, it will easier than going with me. Maybe, I could die by a road or maybe, I will bring money come home. If I don’t come back after three years, I should be remarried. Don’t wait for me...

Story 8: King Thanh Tong Ly

Prince   Nhat Ton was born in 1023 as his father was living as a prince who was chosen to be the next king. His father (later was Thai Tong Ly) lived in Long Duc palace. When his father ascended the throne and went to castle to live, Prince Nhat Ton was ordained to be the heir with appellation “Khai Hoang Vuong”. Though he was only five years old, he had to live in Long Duc palace alone, separated from his parents, the king and the queen. He was taught by teachers who were assigned by the king. Therefore, like his father and his grandpa, Nhat Ton grew up into a boy who was great in both knowledge and martial arts. Especially, he was calm and altruistic that made others not only respected but also loved him. King Thai Tong Ly was a person who always observed each Prince Nhat Ton’s step, his oldest son. King Thai Tong Ly believed in Prince Nhat Ton’s ability and had given the prince great responsibilities since the prince was very young. When Prince Nhat Ton was 15 y...

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...

GIỠ HAO JRANG chapter 4

Their fighting was very noisy. When their knives hit against the others or hit again shields it rumbled as thunders. The place between sky and ground where they fought was covered by dusts. They wrestled, punched and kicked other by their feet. They burked others by their huge hands. Daytime as like nighttime they fought without resting. Sometime, GiỡTuKrong and his fellows got advantage but sometime, they lost. Long time had passed but they still didn’t find out the winner. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong clawed on GiỡTuKrong’s face by his pointed hard fingernails but all his fingernails were broken while GiỡTuKrong’s face had no scratch. GiỡTuKrong raised his hexagonal rod which was made of brass and lashed on BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong’s face. BokKiekLaDiaKlaKong dizzied and fell on ground he fainted.

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.

The tale of apricot blossom

Once  upon a time, in a village nearby forest where a little girl living with her family, father, mother and sister. Though she was only little girl, she had a big heart. She was very kind loving everyone. Even three stone statues of Kitchen God she also spent them her kindness. The stone statues were set in kitchen next to fireplace and always were heated by fire that made her felt pity. One day, that was the hottest day in summer, she that time was a five-year-old girl taking a jug of water and poured on the statues. Steam rose and the God of kitchen appeared. “Oh my little girl! I know you love me and don’t want I am heated. Yes, I know but the more I am heated the more I feel satisfied”, said the God of kitchen. Since that time she hadn't poured water on the statues but God of kitchen sometime appeared to converse with her and her old sister. “Do you like anything else but fire?”, she asked in a time they met. “Of course, I want a carp. Tet holiday is going to com...