Once upon a time, there had a landlord couple wealthy but they didn’t have son, just having five daughters. Though, they gave the daughters whole their love, pampering and giving them all things they wanted. It meant they are a happy family with the parent who loved daughters so much and daughters who were treated as princesses.
They went through peace happy days and grew up the daughters one by one got married and left out of their house. They all followed their husbands to come their homes which all was distant from their parent’s house. It’s so quiet, deserted and very sad what the landlord couple felt when their daughter left. They missed their daughter and really really wanted to meet them. It’s not only one time they planned to visit them but they still didn’t. One day,
“You stay at home and keep watching their house. I will vistit them first”, said the landlord wife, “and, you can go after I come back.”
“Well!” said the landlord, “How much time you need?”
“I plan to stay with each one a month. Five months for five daughters. Thirty days for the ways going to their house. So that It’s about six months, totally.” Said the landlord wife.
“Okay! You go but you need remember don’t let any of them keep you staying at her house too much time. I don’t want to wait for you longer than my expectation”, said the landlord.
The landlord wife agreed then she and a young maid set off they made their way to the daughters. It’s not like what the landlord expected his wife came back after few months it was a lot less than the time she planned. Thought that his wife will feel better after meeting daughters but what showed on her face was sadness.
“What’s going on with you?” asked the landlord.
“Nothing. I’m okay. Just because they are all fine so I want to go back early not wanting you wait me to much”, said his wife then turned her way to bedroom. Of course, the landlord didn’t feel satisfied with his wife’s answer he arranged his luggage and set off.
He went to the eldest daughter first. His son-in-law made him feel satisfied he treated him well but his daughter didn’t she was too busy not paying attention to him. His daughter only said him few words before she went away and managed homework. They were not poorer than the landlord so his daughter had to keep watching on their maids, their servants, managing them to do their jobs. Later, his son-in-law went out to their field, kept watching people there while his daughter was busy in kitchen. He was left alone having no one to talk. Till noon, his stomach rolled he’s hungry. He planned to ask his daughter for lunch but he stopped. “Wonder what she will do?” he thought then waited.
His daughter waited for her husband. It’s over midday the time he came back but he still had something to do so they continued waiting.
“Stop husband. This old man need to eat”, said his daughter and of course he didn’t feel happy as she said that but he chose not to reply. The dinner and all meals after that all things happened like that his daughter seemed not care to him. He really really sad.
“I seem not important with her”, he thought, “If her husband doesn’t come back I fear she will not give me anything to eat”.
Few days later, he decided to break his intent staying with her a month he hurriedly left after few days, hoped that the others would treat him better. He went to the second daughter and needed one half day to arrive to there. They, the second daughter and her husband, were not as rich as his eldest daughter but they were also rich people. His second daughter did a welcome as if this’s the only thing she needed to do she left him alone and went away to do homework.
The landlord left the house of his second daughter after some days he found the way to the others but all of them were busy with their jobs and no one paid time caring to him.
“They seem not my daughters”, he did a chuck, “Their husbands now are more important than me”.
It’s not enough two months from the time he set off to the time he got back home, shorter than his wife much. The sadness trucked him down for weeks. When he felt better, he called his wife and said:
“We have five daughters but we seem have nothing”, he said, “thought that they will take care of us when we are old but look at the way the treated us I don’t hope much. Do you think if we have an adopted son? He will take care of us when we are old; can not see and hear”.
“I think it’s not good idea. Our daughters who we grew up and gave them whole our love did care to us so how”, said his wife, “can a stranger made his way to take care of us? Better I will find another wife for you and if we’re lucky she will give birth to a son”.
“I will go”, said the landlord firmly, “There have many kind people on the world and I will find one of them. And, if I’m back without them, I will consider your idea. It’s not late, right?”
“Okay, you go”, said his wife, “and find one. I will stay home and manage this house.”
He set off in the form of a beggar.
“Who want a father? five “quan” for a father”, he shouted on his way from village to village.
(“quan” was an old currency unit)
People thought he’s crazy some of them laughed while some jeered and scoffed him when they saw him. They threw him the eyes which were used to look at a mad.
“God!” laughed a person, “buy an old man for nothing. Even a servant’s better than him he can servant us”.
The landlord didn’t give up he keeping going to other villages finding a person to sell himself. He went to a poor village there had a poor couple who all were parted from their parents when they were very little.
“It’s so sad”, said the husband, “we all don’t have parents to give their love and also don’t have children to give them our love. The old man’s so poor he’s like us.” The husband turned to his wife, gave him sad eyes, “Do you think so wife?”, “Buy him”, He added.
His wife agreed and so he sprinted out, prevented the old man and asked:
“How much do you plan to sell yourself?” he said.
“Five “quan” and no bargain”, said the landlord coldly.
“I want to buy you but now I’m not enough that money so why don’t you go to my home and wait, I will manage to have the money for you”, said the husband honestly.
The landlord agreed to follow the husband to his home. He waited. The wife walked out and later she came back with two “quan” she borrowed from their neighbors and of course it’s not enough.
“Give us two days, we will have enough money for you”, said the husband.
Two days later, the landlord made his way back to their home. The husband gave him the money he needed and invited him to go in. He happily called the landlord father while the landlord called him son. Later, the husband asked his wife to go to market and buy something to treat their father. The first thing the landlord noticed when he saw the wife was her hair. He remembered that the last time he met her she had such beautiful long hair and now it vanished.
“Where is your wife’s hair?” said the landlord.
The husband kept silent for some time and said:
“She sold. We don’t have enough money but we really want to buy you so what’s the thing we can do to get enough.”
The hair, the most valuable thing of a woman, was sold to have the money given him but the landlord didn’t so much his feeling he didn’t speak anything. The young couple treated their fosterfather very well, serving him delicious dishes, nice clothes and massaging him whenever he ordered. Sometime, he pretended as if he got ill he shouted and therefore, the young couple was frightened, hurriedly finding the way to doctors. Whatever, the young couple had never had bad behaviors with him they always cared him too good, never leaving him hungry, cold and unhappy but this’s also the reason what made them poorer. One and one the things in their home left till their home’s empty and they started sunk into the debts more and more deeply. They had found their way working very hard but it’s not enough to serve their fosterfather. Five months passed their fosterfather didn’t do anything he only ate then lied down on his bed. One day, the young couple woke up and was surprised when they saw their fosterfather had woken up and was in fine clothes.
“Fire this house and follow me both you”, said the landlord.
They looked at the other, thought that their fosterfather turned crazy.
“Hurry up! A son must obey his father, right? Don’t feel sorry for this shabby hut, I will lead you to have money”, said the landlord.
The young couple didn’t dare to be against their fosterfather, they picked something they needed and fired their house. They followed their fosterfather. In daytime they did as beggars begging to have money while nighttime they asked people to rest in their home. They still kept walking. Five day later, they arrived to a nice building, the landlord stopped.
“Here we come our house”, said the landlord.
The young couple still didn’t know what he had said the landlord had gone out to welcome her husband. They all went in.
The husband was given the family name of the landlord he was treated as real son of the landlord so that he and his wife were lived in wealth from that time, of course peace and happy.
Short time later, the landlord got ill he knew that he didn’t have more long time. He wrote a testament which pointed that almost of his assets would belong to his adopted son. Before he died, he called his wife and said:
“Don’t let daughter know I died. I don’t want to get more anger though I have died. My son can have his hair to wear funeral scarf but his wife don’t need to do that I don’t want her to cut her hair twice because of me”.
It’s normal sons and their wives, daughters had to had their hair cut when they participated in their father funeral it meant they were sharing the pain of the death but the landlord didn’t want the wife of his adopted son cut off her head because the hair of a woman was very very valuable and she had done the thing one time. Therefore, she was allowed to keep his hair.
Though, the landlord wife still informed to her daughters about their father’s death. Anyway, they were their daughters. She prevented them at the gate, told them what their father said before he died. “Don’t come in, your father will turn angry if he sees you”, said the landlord wife, trying to prevented them. But, they were also headstrong they insisted to followed their father’s coffin to field. At last, the landlord wife had no choice but to agree. Besides the funeral scarfs made of white shabby cloth, she tore for each of them one piece of the cloth to cover their face that his father couldn’t see their face. Therefore, they could follow the crowd of people who brought their father to field and buried him.
People after that followed the way the family had done. When one of elders in family died, the sons would have their hair cut, wore funeral scarfs which always made of white shabby cloth. The daughters-in-law didn’t need to cut their hair only needing to wear funeral scarfs. And the daughters, besides funeral scarfs on their heads, had to cover their face by pieces of the same cloth.
Till now people still do that in funerals.
THE END
"Translator: Hung Nguyen"
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