Skip to main content

The carpenter in Nam Hoa

Once upon a time, a skillful carpenter, named Chuan, lived in Nam Hoa village. When he was young he went around country to work and learn skill from other carpenters. He found the way to meet all people who he heard about their name to ask them teach him though he had to do the hardest job. However, he still didn’t find out great skillful teacher after decades.
One time, he participated to build a temple in a village. In the lunch, while people were eating, a beggar came and prayed for food. Others dodged him but he separated his food in two and gave the beggar a half.
vietnamese fairy tales
vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com
When they finished and went back to their work, the beggar aproached to Chuan and asked him to try. He gave the beggar his chisel and let him try but he had never thought that the beggar so skillful. Animals which were chiseled on wood looked like as real animals that gave him an idea they could move. He stood on his knees immediately and asked the beggar to teach him the skill.
He became skillful that none could compare with him. Not only chiseled beautiful but also he could do very fast. He could build all wooden constructions though they were very hard to build.
After years working, he came back hometown. That moment, the next to village was building a wooden temple. They spent very much money for the temple and course only great carpenters were chosen. The work had proceed for three months but they only built a little of the temple. He heard about the temple and wanted to see it. He pretended as he was a beggar. He came to the place and prayed for food and staying at there. The next morning when carpenters woke up, they discovered that their guest had burned a column which had been chiseled. They brought him to leaders of village. They asked him to pay for it. Front leaders, he said:
“I burned the column so I will pay for it. Could you give me another column? I will chisel and if you think what I chisel is not valuable to pay I will volunteer to work here without salary”.
 Short time later, he had chiseled with finely shapes. All people liked that. The leaders of village knew that he was a great carpenter and showed their idea they wanted him to build the temple. But, other carpenters were not satisfied. They said:
“We don’t want him to lead us. So, divide wood in two, we will build half of temple and he will build the other part. We will compete and the team who build the part of temple more beautiful, more delicate will have the wage of the other team.
Though the other team had done for three months, he accepted the challenge. He did alone but very fast the other carpenters couldn’t catch his speed. Course, he also chiseled beautifully. At   last, other carpenters knew that they couldn’t win so they stopped and wen away. The temple was completed after that short time. Majestic and wonderful were words to talk about the temple. Especially, shapes on wood were very beautifull which attracted people’s eyes.
 His name was spread every where. All people wanted him to build their house, temple. His skill always made them satisfied.
One day, when he was building a temple next to sea. The temple was nearly completed. One night, while he was sleeping, he heard knocks on the door. He woke up to open the door and saw two strangers.
“King of sea heard about your name and wanted you to build for him a new castle”, they said.
He felt scared and tried to refuse but their faces turned solemn.  
“You can not refuse the king. Bring necessary things, we will go now”, they said.
He carried chisel, saw and followed them. They asked him to close his eyes. Water parted and they went on bottom of sea to the castle. King of sea was happy as he saw him. He said:
“I have heard about your name for long time but till now I have chance to meet you”, he stopped a little, “I don’t like the recent castle, it is too small. I want to have another castle, bigger and more beatifull. And you should know I have chosen a place to build new castle and now I need you. Try your best and build a magnificent castle with a great tower which every one living in sea can see it from any where and, admires, three palaces and six building surround the tower. Remember, you have to decorate them beautifully and brilliantly. I will give you all things you need, wood, workers…”
He had a little scare but he thought that was the opportunity for him to show all his skill. Therefore, he decided to build the castle by his best. None could know how much wood, taken from forests on ground, was used for the castle. He drew and chiseled, day by day. That work made him have no time to remember about his family, rest and eat. Three year devoting, at last, the great castle was completed. The wild place, now, stood palaces, buildings, towers, houses, bridges, corridors… Every one who could have chance to see the place could only said: “Unbelievable! That is real”. The castle, course, was very very beautiful and brilliant.
The king and his servants were satisfied as they saw the castle. The king gave him praises. They held a party to celebrate the day castle was complete. The king asked his sevants to take a small wooden box and give him, he said:
“I am grateful you who have built the castle. To show my gratitude, I gift you this box. But, you had remember one thing that all things you see and hear and know about this place, you must not say to others”.
He promise but the king didn’t trust him 100 percents. The king gave him a leaf and asked him to swallow. The king continued saying.
“If you say any thing the leaf will cut your throat”.
He nodded his head. Later, the king asked the servants, who had brought him to the sea, now led him to get back ground. They went toward Nam Hoa village. He felt as though he had been just reborn as he stepped on ground. He came home and realized that his family had set an altar for him but it couldn’t reduce the happiness when he and his family met. Remerber king’s word he didn’t talk to them about things he had known. Therefore, he said them a false story. When they opened the box, they see 30 glittering pearls. He and his wife decided to sell some of them to buy food. But, they got no much money because traders didn’t know about pearls’ value till the 20th was sold, the trader couldn’t cover his surprised as he saw the pearl. He said:
“This is “Minh Chau” pearl. Very, very valuable”.
Then the trader gave him all money he had and took the pearl away. He became rich from that time. Keep two pearls and sold all of the others, he bought houses, fields and lived an easy life.
When he was 80 years old, he knew that he had no long time to life. Therefore, he called people in his family. He talked to them about the day he was taken to bottom of sea, days he built the castle and whatever he had heard, seen and known about people living in the sea. He said very fast and very detailed. When his story finished, he fainted.
People realized a leaf had cut his throat. He died. People held a feast for him. The remaining pearls also disappeared as he died.
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 100:Servant and thief
Tale 101. Three boys 
Tale 102. Innocent boy
Tale 97: The third wife of Cai Vang
Tale 98: King Pig
Vietnamese fairy tales
-----
Truyện cổ tích Việt nam (For people who can read Vietnamese)
Vietnamese historical stories For people who love history

Nhãn:

Comments

Post a Comment

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

Bài 14: Danh từ đếm được số ít và số nhiều và quy tắc thêm chuyển từ danh từ đếm được số ít sang số nhiều.

      Như chúng ta đã biết danh từ thường phân thành nhiều loại nhưng về mặt ngữ pháp bạn chỉ cần biết danh từ gồm hai loại: danh từ đếm được và danh từ không đếm được. Về cơ bản mình sẽ nói qua một chút về danh từ đếm được và danh từ không đếm được vì bài này chủ yếu xoay quanh danh từ đếm được. Về bản chất danh từ đếm được là những từ bạn có thể kiểm soát nó bằng mặt số lượng tức là bạn có thể đếm 1, 2, 3 cái gì đó và nó có sự phân biệt giữa số ít (một) và số nhiều (hơn một) của loại từ này trong ngữ pháp của câu. Ví dụ: I have  bananas và  I have  a banana  có sự khác biệt rõ ràng, bạn có nhận thất mạo từ  “a”  ở trước banana không? Thêm nữa Bananas  are  yellow và a banana  is  yellow bạn có nhận thấy động từ đi kèm có sự khác biệt không; danh từ số nhiều sẽ tương đương vói ư chỉ ngữ they và danh từ số ít sẽ tương đương vói it. Cơ bản là thế. Còn về danh không đếm được thì bạn phải cân, đo, đong như những...
3 comments
Read more

Truyện 9. Sự tích Con Dã Tràng

Có  hai vợ chồng một ông già tên là Dã Tràng. Trong vườn họ có một hang rắn. Thường ngày làm cỏ gần đấy, ông già vẫn thấy có một cặp vợ chồng rắn hổ  mang ra vào trong   hang. Một hôm, con rắn chồng bò ra khỏi hang một mình. Ông nhìn thấy rắn vợ nằm cuộn ở trong. Vì mới lột nên mình mẩy nó yếu ớt không cựa quậy được. Một lúc lâu, rắn chồng bò trở về, miệng tha một con nhái đút cho vợ ăn. Ít lâu sau, Dã Tràng lại thấy rắn vợ bò ra khỏi hang một mình. Lần này rắn chồng đến kỳ lột nằm im thim thíp, lốt da cũ còn bỏ lại bên hang. Hồi lâu, rắn vợ trở về, theo sau có một con rắn đực khác khá lớn. Dã Tràng thấy hai con bò đến cửa hang thì dừng lại rồi quấn lấy nhau như bện dây thừng. Một lát sau, con rắn đực một mình bò vào hang.
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

The Tale of the Hundred - knot Bamboo tree

Once upon a time, there had a boy who was poor, had no field. Therefore, he found the way to work for a landlord. He was healthy, worked hard and great in working so the landlord wanted him to work for him long time without any pay. One day, he called the boy to come. "You are honest and healthy. If you agree to work for me in three years without pay, I will let you marry with my only daughter after that." The boy agreed. He believed completely. He worked very hard, help the landlord turn richer that he could build more houses, buy more fields and cattles. Then, time passed. Three years nearly crossed, the boy always remembered his master's promise while his master, the landlord didn't want to do his promise. He in secret had found another boy for his daughter, a son of another landlord in that area. Therefore, what he need was a reason to refuse the boy. One day, he called the boy to come. "You have worked very hard for three years, waken early, slept late....
Read more

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.
3 comments
Read more

Story 2. Vạn Hạnh, a monk and an adviser of kings

Along  history we have people who didn’t have important positions but they affected deeply to historical stream. One of them is the monk, Van Han who had affected to dynasties Dinh, Le and Ly. Buddhism went in Vietnam in the 2nd century but till Nam De Ly reigned the country Buddhism started to spread to people then it existed along with dynasties. Sometime Buddhism had a position as the national religion. Monks were people who had high education so they had reputation and people’s trust. Co Phap (now Dinh Bang village, Thuan thanh district, Bac ninh province) was where Buddhism was born. A family followed Buddhism had given birth to a son in 932 who none knew his real name. Whole his life went with his nick name Dao Hanh. When he was a child he had show people his intelligent that he read many book and knew many things. When he was 21 years olds he followed Buddhism and was led by a monk having nick name Thien Ong, a high position-monk in Luc To temple. Dao Hanh chose the way ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Read more

The tale of "Banh Chung" and "Banh Day"

Once  upon a time, that had a king who was so old so he wanted to abdicate. He had had few wives who had given bird twelve sons. All of his sons had grown up and also were great people. The King was confused about choosing. “All of them are talent people. It is so difficult that I can choose a person and nobody can be jealous” said the King. vietnamesefairytales.blogspot.com “My Lord the king, we can have a contest” said a servant. “Oh, it is a good idea but what is subject of the contest?” said the king  “Meaning dishes, which we can put on ancestral altar” said the servant. “Great, let’s doing” said the king. The king called his son to come on and said:  “My sons, I don’t have many time and I want one of you to become the king. Now, anybody who can find dishes which not only are delicious but still have great meaning to put on ancestral altar will become the king.” 
Read more