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Truong Ba's soul inside Butcher's body

Once upon a time, a person whose name was Truong Ba played Chinese chess very good, master of Chinese chess. None in his country could defeat him. Therefore, he won all prizes from chess contests. The rumor of his talent spread to China, the neighbor country, where had Mr. Ky Nhu also a master of chinese-chess. Ky Nhu wanted to play chess with him so he left his country, came to meet Truong Ba. They had done matches but none of them had the win till the third match Truong Ba made Ky Nhu be in stuck. Seeing Ky Nhu spent too long time thinking Truong Ba became arrogant.
Truong Ba soul inside butcher
“Although De Thich was here he also can not help you to win this match” said Trương Ba.
Meanwhile De Thich, chess god, was sitting on heaven had heard the insolent words. He mounted on a cloud, flew down and planed to let him know he was too arrogant.
Ky Nhu and Truong Ba were playing, suddenly, an old man with long white beard and hair came. The old man guide Ky Nhu some moves. After seconds, Ky Nhu got the win. Truong Ba felt unhappy he wondered who the old man was. He looked the old man more closely the old man had white beard and hair, rosy face and looked not like human. Truong Ba keeled down immediately.
“It is you, De Thich. I am so insolent to not recognize you.”, he said.
De Thich laughed and said: “I heard you are a master of chess so I want to know how much you can do.”
Truong Ba kept De Thich in his house. He bought wine and chicken to treat him. De Thich though he had just met Truong Ba very liked him.
Truong Ba asked to study De Thich’s chess moves. De Thich seemed to felt his sincerity he sad: “I gifted you the joss sticks. If you need my help, fire a joss stick, I will come.”
Then he mounted the cloud and flew up.
From that time, whenever Truong Ba fired a joss stick he always made a meal. Two were pleased about the other.
One day, Truong Ba was taken suddenly by the Death. His wife, after burying him, cleaned their house and saw the joss sticks. She fired them and stuck them on her husband’s altar. De Thich appeared immediately
“Where is Truong Ba”, he said.
 The wife burst into sobs and said: “My husband has died for a month.”
“Why didn’t you call me when he just had died? Now, it is too late to do an…, uhm” he said
Thinking for few minutes, he added: “Does this village have any new dead people?”  
“A butcher died in yeater-evening.”, the wife replied.
“I will find the way to save your husband.”, muttered De Thich in the wife’s ear. The he flew up.
While people in the butcher’s house were crying the butcher suddenly woke up. He stood up then went straight to Truong Ba’s house without a word. When Truong Ba’s wife saw the butcher she realized immediately that her husband revived because of magic. She was happy to let him go in but the wife of butcher sprinted to pull him back. A violent argument happened. Then all of them pulled together themselves to court.
The judge called people to ask. All of them said that the person who revived was the butcher but Truong Ba’ wife said surely that was her husband, Truong Ba.
 “What does your husband do everyday?”, asked the judge toTruong Ba’s wife.
“He plays chess.”, answered the wife.
The judge turned to the butcher’s wife, asked: “What does your husband do?”
“He is a butcher.” Said the butcher’s wife.
The judge ordered soldiers to take a pig for the butcher but he didn’t know to do anything. Then, the judge called some chess masters to come. The butcher could win easily. The judge decided the butcher could go to Truong Ba’s house.
THE END
"Translated by Hung Nguyen"

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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!

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.

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...

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 ...

2. Black dragon, the abandoned son of dragon family

The first black dragon' s born with whole body in black color, bigger than his brother and especally, he had only four toes on each foot (like half-black dragons having four toes instead of five). The ugly appereance made him not to be admitted by other members in his family that they thought he's half-blood dragon though the pure blood's inside him. Therefore, black dragon's not inherited the ability, controling natural phenomena, water, wind, cloud, thunder... After that, black dragons continued to be born and almost of them were not admitted and couldn't control any natural phemona.

Ghost revenge

A  robber was caught he was sentenced to death. In the time, he stayed in prison waiting for his death, he told his family to find the way to save his life. His families made their way to the mandarin who judged him. They requested him to save the robber and he agreed to help them only if they could gave him twenty silver bars. His families gave him enough the silver but after he had the silver, he didn’t want to divide the silver to his fellows and higher mandarin. Therefore, the robber’s appeal was not cared. Later, the robber was killed as the before judgment. The mandarin wanted to avoid the robber’s family, he moved to other place. The thing because of that was forgotten. A student had chance to participate in the king’s contest but he was so poor. Though he borrowed money from his relatives and including his neighbors, he still didn’t have enough money to go to capital. When the date he set off came, a man came and made friend with him. The man asked him to go to capita...

Crow and Peacock

Once  upon a time, both Crow and Peacock were best friends and had same feather colors, gray. They knew themselves were ugly so they didn’t appear front of other birds. Peacock in Crow’s eyes was uglier than him because Peacock had a small head and a long neck that they didn’t connect to his body. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com One day, Crow talked Peacock: “A painter was painting nearly so we should come and steal some colors to paint on our feathers and make it beautiful” said Crow Peacock bowed his head. That day, the painter hadn’t finished his picture so he left his jar of colors on ground and took a nap. The first time, they stole a paintbrush and some jars then hid them on mound middle lake nearly. The second, they planned to go and steal again but the panter had woken up and came his home so they only took a jar of ink and a pocket of purl he had left. “Right, we start painting, yet” said Crow Crow made Peacock lie down and began painting. Crow painted v...

Tam and Cam

Once upon a time, there had a little girl named Tam. Her mother died early so her father decided to remarry on purpose the stepmother would take care of his little daughter. The stepmother gave birth to a girl, named Cam after that. Then, her father died after few years. Tam had to live with her stepmother and her sister, Cam. Since the time, she was forced to work hard, all housework, while Cam had to do nothing. One day, the stepmother gave Tam and Cam each one a corf to caught fish. She promised that who caught full her corf would receive a piece of red silk. Tam and Cam went to field together. She was hard to catch fish while Cam only wondered around till afternoon and had nothing in her coft. Cam pointed at Tam’s coft and realised it is full, thinking seconds, she said gently: “sister Tam, your head is mud, you should wash it or mother will punish you” Belive Cam, Tam went to river nearly. She left her corf on the shore,  waded into water to wash. Cam, meanwhile, stayed on t...

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...