Skip to main content

The Tale of Geckos

Once upon a time, a poor couple who named Thach Sung lived in a hut next to a market. They begged others to live. Although their lives were difficult, they were people who had ambitions. They had saved a lot of money which was hidden under ground in their hut but they still acted as poor people and continued praying.
vietnamese fairy tales
vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com
One night, when Mr. Thach Sung was coming home he saw two buffaloes were fighting.
His experience told him that year the water would rise over ground very much and of course they couldn’t pick up so he dig his money and bought rice by all money he had. The August that year, a big flood occurred. Therefore, they earned a lot of money by selling rice for others. 
Then they stopped spaying and started lending others money to take interest. A short time later, they became rich people. Mr. Thach Sung had bought many buffaloes, farmland for next years but he wanted to be richer. He cooperated with bandits in the region, shared what they robbed, then sold them. Ten years later, Mr. Thach Sung now became the richest man in the region but his ambition was also binger than that he wanted to become nobles. He presented to King very much treasures. Of course, the King let him supervised a region. He left his home, came to the capital and built a building where could contain thousands of people. He and his wife now lived in luxury that none could reach. 
That time, in the capital a man, named Vuong, related to the Queen who also was known for his richness participated a party which Mr. Thach Sung was in. after talking few minutes the topic of conversation change into that who was richer than the other. 
“All my servants wore silk clothes. Whenever Tet came I had to bought tons of silk for them.” said Vuong 
“My servants must eat as much as all people who live in a districts” said Mr. Thach Sung 
“I use sugar instead of wood to cook” Vuong said
“I use millions of candle to heat my rooms in the winter” said Mr. Thach Sung
After hours, a man interupted their words: “If you two only say about what you have without proving we couldn’t decided who was richer than other. You must show up and I think person who is loser will have to give the other three case of gold.”
They agreed. The date came. First, Vuong made his servants hung silk above all bed in his house but Mr. Thach Sung made his servant hung silk on all ceiling in his house. Vuong used glass on his roof that made his home look like a jewel but Thach Sung forced his servants cut alabaster and paved them on the yard font of his house that made people admire.
The contest continued. Thach Sung asked Vuong: “Do you have coral?” 
Vuong showed people a big branch of coral and asked him: “Do you have Rhino horns?” 
Thach Sung showed people a teapot and teacups made by rhino horns. They showed people many other valuable things. Then they started showing people strange things. Thach Sung let them see a horse which could run a thousand miles a day but Vuong invited people came his garden to see a two-head deer. That time Thach Sung kept silent rather long. Everyone thought that he gave up but, for a while, he took out a gem and said: “I have a gem, if you bring it in the summer you will feel cool and in the winter you will feel warm. It is only one in the world”
Vuong was confused and was going to borrow Queen a gem but a nobless who sat next to him said in secret some words to him then he smiled and turned to Thach Sung and said: “I know you are a richest man I have ever seen but you also don’t have many things”
“What don’t I have? If you show me what I don’t have I will gift you all things a have and if you don’t you have to gift me all your assets” said Thach Sung. Then they signed their name on a commitment front all of people who was in the contest. For while Vuong said: “You don’t have “mẻ kho” (a traditional spices of Vietnam).” just hearing “mẻ kho”, Thach Sung startled he knew that thing when he was poor he had used it to cooked fish but when he became rich he had not ever used it again. He forced servants to find everywhere in his house but they didn’t find out.
Then winner was Vuong. Thach Sung had to give his assets to Vuong include his wife and his servants. He came back to the hut and regretted his assets he had lost. Then he died and transformed into a gecko which people nowday in Viet Nam call "Thach Sung". 
Today, people in Viet Nam say: Thach Sung lack "mẻ kho" to mean that none has enough all things 
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:
Tale 19. If Toad croaks, it will rain
Tale 20. Thach Sanh and Ly Thong Chapter 1
Tale 21. Thach Sanh and Ly Thong Chapter 2
Tale 16. The Tale of God of Kitchen
Tale 17. The Tale of Ba Bể Lake
List of Vietnamese fairy tales
-----
Truyện cổ tích Việt nam (For people who can read Vietnamese)
Vietnamese historical stories (For people who love history)
Nhãn:

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!
1 comment
Read more

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...
Read more

So dua - Coconut boy

Once upon a time, there in a village had a couple who worked as servants for a landlord. Although they were over fifty years old, they had ever not had a child. They were sad about that, but they had never given up to dream about a child. One day, it's a very hot day, when the wife was working in the field and felt very thirsty. She seeked for water, but she didn't see any but a little water in a skull which was in a hole beside an ancient tree. She had no choice but to drink it. Right the moment she drank, the feeling of cold water running from her throat to her stomach made her felt very comfortable. As a magic, she was pregnant after that short time. Then, the husband died before he got the happiness looking his child be born. After nine months and ten days, the wife gave birth a son but he didn't look like any child on the world. He had no feet, no leg, and even no body. He just had a head with full of eyes, nose, ear, hair and mouth on it. He didn't ugly but was ...
Read more

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.
1 comment
Read more

Thach Sanh and Ly Thong Chapter 1

Chap 1:  fight with huge snake  Once upon a time, a woodcutter and  his wife were over sixty years old but they had had not any children. Although they were sad, they still did good thing and hoped God would give them one child. At last, their kindness had come to King of heaven who requested his son to fly down and reincarnate to be the old couple’son. They had just enjoyed the happiness for a short time. Then, the old man died, before his son was born. Vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com After that, the woman gave birth to a beautiful, strength boy. She named him Thach Sach. The poor boy grew up with no father then his mother also left after few years living with him. They only left him an ax and a pair of shorts. Day by day, he went to forest, cut tree, split them then took to market to get money. When he was thirteen, king of heaven forced his servants down to teach him magic and martial arts. Then they was back heaven, Thach Sanh continued living alone in...
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

The love story of Chuc and Nguu

Deeply  in forest where rarely people stepped   on there had a pond which were filled by cool clear water. The pond had never dried so that was where fairies used to gather. They often took water from the pond and sometime they waded in it to bath. And while they were bathing they always left their clothes on shore. Though, they had never been discovered by anyone who lived on ground. He, a woodcutter, lived alone in a hut standing by edge of forest. His name was Nguu. Everyday, he went in forest, cut down tree then brought it to market to sell. One day, he went in forest to deeply that he didn’t remember the way to get out the forest. It’s random he headed to the pond at the middle of forest. That time, three fairies were romping in the pond. And of course they were the most beautiful girls Nguu had ever seen so he immediately was enchanted their beauty. Then, he caught a plan that he wanted a fairy to be his wife. He saw sets of white clothes which were left on grass n...
Post a Comment
Read more

The tale of tiger

Once  upon a time, there had an angle in heaven. The angle’s name was Pham Nhi. Strong and combative were the words used to describe him. Things as moving mountain, filling sea, pushing ancient tree were normal things he used to do. His ability had surpassed almost other angles including generals in heaven. Pham Nhi always had things to do he used to find the strong to have a fight. But, they avoided them because there had had many strong angles who were knocked out after one punch. He became haughty when very few people dared to accept his challenge. He thought that generals   who servanted the king weren’t as strong as him that his name spread more largely than them. But, the king seemed not to pay attention to him. Instead of inviting him to castle and giving him a worthy position, the king did nothing. Then, he turned much haughty, not respecting his king. He thought that he could replace his king, ruling the heaven. Therefore, he gathered others to fight agai...
Post a Comment
Read more